The weather Saturday afternoon was not exactly perfect, but the rugby club battled through cold, wind, snow and the Philadelphia College of Medicine to score a 12-11 victory.

The Ruggers overcame an early 4-0 deficit on their way to the win. Mike Cranston scored the team's first try when he broke through the Philadelphia defense and raced half the length of the field. Scott Davis hit the conversion to give the team a 6-4 lead.

Philadelphia regained the lead 7-6 on a penalty kick, but Davis answered with a kick for Penn State to make the score 9-7. Ian Wallace split the uprights with a dropkick to give the Ruggers a 12-7 lead and provided the margin of victory as Philly got a late try to narrow Penn State's lead to 12-11. But the Ruggers managed to hold on to record their second straight home victory.

"We're getting it together," forward Darrin Wolfe said. "This is our third weekend, the fitness is getting there. There were a lot of good points, more good points than bad. We have to work on a lot, but there was better motivation today."

The Penn State B team had an easier time with their Philadelphia opponents, cruising to a 13-3 victory. Philadelphia opened the game with a penalty kick to take a 3-0 lead, but it was all Penn State the rest of the way.

Brad Manning scored first, running untouched into the try-zone after receiving a pass from Kevin Barry, who broke two tackles before passing off at the last second to Manning.

Steve Hynes added the conversion and later added a penalty kick to extend the Ruggers' lead to 9-3. Gregg Driscoll completed the scoring with a try off a pass from Brent Hutchins.

The C squad did not fare as well as the rest of the team. Philadelphia took advantage of Penn State mistakes to score an 18-4 victory. Chris Nophsker scored the lone Penn State try.

Now that the Ruggers have a few games under their belts, the team's coaches have a better idea of their players' strengths and weaknesses, and with the Midwest tournament only two weeks away a lot of work lies ahead for the team.

"We've been trying a few new things," faculty advisor Charlie Smith said. "We've changed a few players between the A and B teams, and when you think in terms of getting ready for the Midwest regionals we have a lot of rough spots left.

"The attitude is super, in fact, I think the attitude is getting better. They realize they've got work to do. They realize that there are some stutters in their game, that they do some things well, but there are some lapses in their game."