"Our ultimate goal is the national championship, so the most important thing for us is to get in by winning on Saturday," Penn State head coach Don Ferrell said. "We're taking both very seriously, but there's no doubt that all our focus is on Delaware right now."
Ferrell went on to say that all four teams in the tournament are very talented, so any team that Penn State faces will be a challenge. Delaware has him especially fixed.
"They're on a roll coming into the championships," Ferrell said. "They're a program that's come of age over the past few years. They've been in the tournament the last couple years, and they've looked better every time."
Delaware is a forward-dominated team, meaning that it relies on strength to wear down its opposition. In order to make it into the championship round and secure a spot in the national tournament, Penn State will have to rely on its forwards to hold Delaware off and counteract with quicker play. Ruggers captain Auggie Manelick said the team has worked on some new plays over the week that should help take advantage of the team's speed.
There is a chance that if the Ruggers make it to the championship round, they will face off against Navy, a team that Manelick called "Penn State's biggest MARFU rival." The two squads played each other in the fall in a Ruggers victory, and it would be understood if the players were looking forward to a rematch.
"There is no chance of us overlooking the first match," Ferrell said. "Saturday's is the most important."
The players agreed, saying that they did not feel as if they could afford to overlook the team's semifinal match.
Penn State is the two-time defending champion of the MARFU tournament, so it should come as no surprise that the team is taking a business-like approach to the tournament. The words coming from its opposition would also explain why the Ruggers are not losing focus of their opening match.
"Some of the players have been talking garbage about us," Manelick said. "Their guys have been sending us some e-mails talking smack about us, and the coaches have sent some to our coaches."
Although the Ruggers agree that their biggest goal this weekend
is to win the first game, they
would much rather go into nationals as MARFU champions. They understand, though, that achieving this requires a step-by-step approach to every game ahead of them.
"We've first got to get into the finals, and then we can dominate the hell of them," Manelick said.
This weekend's games will determine if PSU makes the national tourney.
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