All they had to do was beat Princeton and they would make it into the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union tournament next weekend.

The Penn State men's rugby team knew the mission that was in front of it on Saturday, and ended the game "mission completed."

The Ruggers destroyed Princeton with a score of 53-12 to secure their spot in the MARFU tournament. Princeton, however, came out harder at first than Penn State expected.

"They did things different that we weren't prepared for in the first five or 10 minutes," coach Terry Ryland said. "But once we made the adjustments, we were OK."

Princeton specifically looked good on lineouts, gaining possession of the ball early in the game. Penn State reacted by solving the problem right away.

"We spotted up their jumpers and we moved with them," Ryland said. "Initially, we only had two people moving and we needed three."

The Ruggers took hold of the game at that point, scoring three trys and building a good lead for themselves.

"We wanted to get penetration," Ryland said. "We knew once we got penetration, our options would open up. We worked on attacking the weak side off scrum downs, which we were very successful at.

"And once we attacked the middle of the field, they did not have the foot speed to get to the outside. So, after a couple scruffs into the middle of the field, we had options to the left or the right, and once we got the ball out there we had numbers."

Princeton came back to score a try, but the Ruggers answered that with another try of their own. Clearly, Penn State dominated the first half.

"Princeton missed a lot of tackles," senior John McGeachy said. "On the backline they over-pursued the ball a little and gave me the opportunity to step through the hole. We dominated. We have a fast pack."

The second half proved to be much like the first. Penn State scored five trys and allowed Princeton to end the game with their second try.

"I think we did a good job of keeping the ball alive," Ryland said. "Once the tackler went to the ground, they were tough in the rucks. We worked on keeping the ball alive and not going to the ground. The support people did a super job of staying in position and staying hard on the ball. I think that was evident by the number of five or six pass trys we had."

Adding speed to Penn State was newcomer Josh Colegrove. His play proved beneficial to his team's win.

"I think it was his athleticism, his quickness," Ryland said. "He's a tough kid. When he makes a cut, he doesn't lose any pace whatsoever.

"Josh looked so well out there because he got the ball in space and when you get people in space, they look a lot more dangerous."

McGeachy agreed that Colegrove's quickness was a big boost for Penn State.

"Essentially, our backline is based on speed," he said. "Josh Colegrove will be a key element when we play bigger and harder teams."

Colegrove was happy to just be out there playing.

"It was fun," he said. "It was kind of weird because it was my first semester and I was just having fun. I was really impressed with our team. Not just a few guys stood out. Everyone contributed."

The Ruggers also got outstanding play from McGeachy, who made good decisions all day long.

"He is the guy who calls all the plays, calls all the shots," Colegrove said. "He knows a lot about rugby, and he has a lot of speed. We are fortunate to have him on the team."

The major factor in Penn State's win was the play of the defense.

"The key to our whole game was our defense," Ryland said. "Princeton had five straight penalties inside our five meter line and we turned them back every time, both on initial, second and third thrusts.

"With the wind at their back second half, they spent a lot of time in our area. And to only give up one try after all those potential attacks was great."

McGeachy agreed.

"I think in comparison with this game, the defense was exceptional," he said. "Playing hard defense is the key to victory and it showed in this game."