Ruggers sweep MARFU Tourney

By HIRAN RATNAYAKE
Collegian Staff Writer

The Penn State men's rugby team continued to redefine the word intensity last weekend when it walloped James Madison 52-15 in the MARFU Tournament semifinals then knocked off Virginia Tech 24-20 Sunday to win the championship. The victory over James Madison secured the Ruggers a spot in the national Sweet 16, but the championship win improved their seeding.

Penn State now prepares for a Sweet 16 matchup against Ohio State, a team it will battle April 16 in Columbus, Ohio.

Senior Joe Pullara scored four tries in Saturday's onslaught, as the Ruggers never lost the lead.

"It was a good overall team effort," Pullara said. "Most of the credit deserves to go to the guys who passed me the ball."

Many of the squad's top players rested Saturday to prepare for the championship. The missing players seemed inconsequential, as James Madison proved no match for the Ruggers' backups.

"To win the national championship a team needs a lot of depth," junior Matt Wyatt said. "We have about 30 guys here that will go out and perform well together."

In the other semifinal, Virginia Tech and Navy squared off with Tech winning, 29-24, to set up Sunday's showdown.

During the championship game, Penn State dominated Virginia Tech in every aspect of the game, but the Ruggers couldn't capitalize on their chances to score.

"We knew we were down, but by watching films of Tech we knew that our team was in much better shape," Wyatt said. "If it came down to the latter stages of the game, our conditioning would benefit us."

Down by 15 with only 12 minutes remaining, the Ruggers used a strategy of using wide passes to wear down Tech's tacklers on the run. It paid off as they scored the next 19 points to win 24-20.

Junior Brendan Boyle scored two tries and freshman John McGeachy kicked two key conversions in the comeback as Penn State took home the gold.

Reflecting on his team's performance, senior Keith Fitzpatrick said, "It was a great feeling, we played a full 80-minute game and it was important to know that we stayed intense under pressure."

The newly crowned MARFU champions will play Ohio State, with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Every player knows the national championship is four wins away.

"There wasn't too much of a celebration after the MARFU Championship, our team has higher goals in mind," Wyatt said. "Right now we are set to make some noise."