The UConn men’s rugby team faced off against UMass Saturday afternoon but fell 39-10 against the visitors. This was UConn’s first competitive rugby match of the season after their contest against Colgate was cancelled. The first few minutes were tense, as both teams kept swapping possession either through drop-kicks or line-outs after the ball went into touch. One UConn player even lifted the UMass ball handler off the ground to make a tackle down in UMass territory. The Minutemen were knocking on the goal line early, but eventually gave up possession via a drop kick. The Huskies responded by drop-kicking the ball into touch out of their try zone. Soon after, a UConn player blitzed through the UMass defense, and almost took the ball to the goal line before being pushed out of bounds. UConn also made efforts to score a try inside UMass territory, but they eventually received the ball and drop-kicked it into touch further away from their goal line.
The Minutemen took the ball after a scrum and quickly moved it up the field to UConn’s goal line. It took some effort, but UMass eventually scored the try with Matthew Doban earning five points after facing fierce resistance at UConn’s goal line.
After going 7-0 up in the first half, UConn got possession first after the try. The Minutemen didn’t wait too long to score their second try of the half as a UMass player split the UConn defense and gunned it to the goal line. With only one UConn defender in his path, the athlete passed it to his left. UMass captain John McGoey failed the conversion kick this time round, making the score 12-0 UMass.
After bouncing back and forth a few times thereafter, UConn regained possession after a line-out, and successfully moved upfield, thanks to the efforts of No. 3 forwards captain, Tiernan Bentley, who scored UConn’s first try of the game.
After a UConn drop-kick that went into touch, UMass regained possession following a subsequent line-out. The Minutemen managed to move the ball upfield deep into UConn territory. After a foul was committed, a scrum ensued. UMass regained possession and passed it to the opposite side of the field, eventually losing the ball as it went into touch. Luckily for the Minutemen, a foul was called, so UMass regained possession. Both teams struggled to gain more yardage in the remaining minutes, with the first half score being 17-5 UMass.
In the second half, UConn got the ball first after a couple bouts. However, UMass opened the scoring in the second half, changing the board 20-10.
It didn’t take too long for UConn to respond. After a UMass penalty kick, UConn kicked it into touch. From there, they received the ball at the halfway mark and managed to split the UMass defense to score a try. Although McGoey failed the conversion kick, UConn only trailed 10 points behind. It took time for the next try to be scored, but after a penalty kick, UMass traversed up field into UConn territory.
They eventually broke through the tough UConn defense after a hard-fought scrum and scored their fourth try of the game, courtesy of McGoey. For the second time in four tries, McGoey also converted the kick to change the score 27-10 UMass, widening their lead.
Later, after a drop-kick put the ball deep in UConn territory, UMass won the ball on the ensuing scrum at the goal line. Eventually, No. 2 Kadin Phimister converted the play into a try by diving into the try zone. A failed conversion kick changed the score 32-10 UMass.
Not long after, UMass scored again as No. 6 Christian Manjikian ran uncontested from the halfway mark to score a try. McGoey hit it through the uprights to make it 39-10. In the final seconds of the game, UMass passed the ball around to run out the clock and secure a victory.