The men’s and women’s club rugby teams have each pieced together impressive spring seasons, and neither squad is showing signs of slowing down.
The men’s squad participated in its first tournament this past weekend, hosted by DeSales University, finishing second. Sophomore Nick Webster was named the team’s MVP with two tries on the day. Senior team captain and club president Tommy Goslau led the team in scoring with three tries.
“A lot of times with the team sports, you put different combinations of players in and you kind of expect there to be different levels of play,” Goslau said. “But this weekend, we had so many different rotations, so many different groups of people playing with each other and they were all really just excellent.”
Much of the team’s practices are focused on gaining the strength needed to play the physically demanding sport, in addition to cultivating a collective IQ across the team to work together more efficiently on the field, according to Goslau.
“There’s no LeBron in rugby, as much as I wish there was, you really have to win or lose as a team,” Goslau said. “I’m always looking for cohesiveness and how we can build on our team chemistry.”
There is a lot of rugby still left to be played for the men. The team will travel to Franklin & Marshall College this weekend to compete in a tournament that serves as a qualifier for a more competitive Northeast regional series. The club will also host two more competitions, including a home tournament on April 12 and an alumni match on April 26, both being held at Metzgar Fields.
“Definitely a good start to our season so far, and I’m really hyped for the rest of it,” Goslau said.
The women’s team is in the midst of its second season under head coach Mike Eisenhart, who assumed the role before the fall season. Eisenhart has been “one of the best advancements” for the squad, according to sophomore recruitment chair Alex Rallatos.
“With Coach Mike’s leadership, our team has grown stronger both on and off the field, fostering a sense of unity and purpose,” Rallatos said. “We are excited to see how his guidance will shape our future and help us achieve new milestones together.”
The team’s spring season has proved to be an improvement from the fall, which yielded shaky results mostly due to a low roster size. The club has competed in three tournaments thus far, including Feb. 22 at Scranton University, March 1 at East Stroudsburg University and last Saturday at Franklin & Marshall.
Winning more matches against common opponents has been the highlight of the season, said Rallatos.
“We didn’t have a lot of players and in the very beginning we would lose to teams like Marywood and DeSales,” she said. “Now we’ve beat them every time we’ve played them, so it shows the improvement and the growth of the team all together.”
As spring play winds down, the team is already focused on recruitment for the fall as it hopes to yield more consistent 15-on-15 play with an expanded roster.
“Our main goal right now is to grow the team and get more players for the next year because we only have about 10 to 12,” Rallatos said. “We’re looking to eventually build up to playing 15s, which needs a roster size of like 20-something kids.”
The women will host a tournament at Metzgar Fields on Saturday to wrap up their season.
