Saturday may have been too cold for baseball and softball, but The University of Maine Club Rugby team hosted matches with Bowdoin College and the University of Maine at Farmington on Morse Field at Alfond Stadium that afternoon.
The teams played in a round-robin format: UMaine and UMF playing in game one, UMF and Bowdoin playing in game two, and UMaine and Bowdoin playing in game three. UMaine took both of their games, with the second one called at halftime.
At the start of game one, the temperature was a meager 36 degrees with a wind chill of 26, according to the National Weather Service, but UMaine was ready to go, scoring their first try within 5 minutes of the start of their first match. After making the conversion kick, the Black Bears were up 7-0.
Even with the cold temperatures, the team was expected to keep up the effort.
“The only game plan we have is to go 100 percent,” said UMaine Club Rugby player Stanley Profit. “The team expects you to go hard all the time.”
After the second kickoff, UMaine had no trouble marching the ball down the field again. They did not let the ball cross over to their side of the field before they scored their second try of the game. Another conversion kick after the try gave the Black Bears a 14-0 lead over the Beavers.
UMaine scored another try and failed on the conversion attempt to make the score 20-0 before the Beavers got their first chance at a score.
UMF’s first good possession of the match sent them to the try-zone line as they tried to get some momentum on their side before UMaine stopped them and kept the shut out going.
UMaine advanced the ball to midfield before the Beavers made a second strong push for the try zone. This time, UMF successfully made it in for their first and only score of the game. After the conversion kick, the score stood at 20-7.
The Black Bears put another score past the Beavers right before half time to make the score 27-7.
In the second half, the Black Bears took control, but UMF still had some fight left in them. Just as UMaine kept the Beavers out of the try zone before they successfully scored, UMF held off UMaine twice in a row on the try-zone line before the Black Bears breached the Beavers defenses and scored their fifth try of the day. After another good conversion kick, UMaine took a 34-7 lead.
It was all Black Bears after this point, as the Beavers looked to be winded and their tackling quality diminished. UMF had to use a couple of UMaine players in order to field a full team.
UMaine scored another try and conversion kick to put the score at 41-7.
Profit provided the last two scores for the Black Bears, breaking tackles and creating long open runs to the try zone. Profit’s scores along with the team’s successful conversion kicks led the Black Bears to a 55-7 win.
“I think they did very well,” Profit said. “They definitely tried hard. They were low on numbers. We had to give up some of our guys, but regardless, if they had a few better passes they could have got some tries. We were the better team overall.”
“We played well, I think,” Club Rugby Vice President Taylor Valente said. “We have a lot of new kids so we tried to get people experience. Overall, we did well. There are a few things we can work on. It is the spring season, so this is when we want to work on stuff.
“The wind affects kicking a little bit, and you have to be careful with your passes and make sure you get it [to the player you are passing to],” Valente continued. “We were going against the win in the first half, so our kicks weren’t as good as in the second half when we were going against the wind.”
UMaine handled Bowdoin 49-0 in the shortened third game.
The Club Rugby team plays at Morse Field again next Saturday at 5 p.m. in the second annual UMaine Club Rugby Alumni Match.