Seeking Successful Scrums

Both the men's and women's rugby teams took the field for the first time this season on Sunday, Sept. 16.

The Hornets were handed a tough 39-31 loss by Champlain College in a game in whichthey dominated the first half, but ended up falling short.  

They've seen success over the last few years, making the playoffs two of the last three seasons. Buttheir season came to a sudden and bitterend last year, with a devastating homeloss to Johnson State.

"We were really looking forward to making the playoffs for a third year straight,"said fourth- year player Dom Cholewinski." It was tough on everyone when we ended up not making it."

This year's teamis counting on new playersto come up big. One of their goals for the beginning of the season is to mesh their young talent with the experienced upperclassman to create team chemistry.

"The team is in a developmental stage," Cholewinski said. "Our young players know the game well but just need time on the field get acclimated with the speed of the game. Even though we're a younger team and still developing, we fully expect to win games along the way."

Lyndon State College Men's Rugby team will be facing off against Castleton State this Sunday, Sept. 23, in Castleton, Vt. The next home game will be Saturday, Oct.13 against Colby Sawyer.

The lady Hornets Rugby team is set to take on Colby Sawyer in a home match on Saturday, Sept. 22, after an impressive 49-10 season opening win over Champlain College.

Success has been hard to come by for the Women'steam, as they're coming off of three straight losing seasons. The lack of success might be due to the absence of any coaching over the last three years.

However, this season the team will finally have a coach.

 "Chas Legge has stepped up to help coach us,"co-captain and fourth-year player Brittany Rogers said,which makes me very optimistic, especially with our first game being so successful."
 

Much like the men's side, the women also have some fresh faces on their team to start the season.

"The new girls have really picked the game up quickly," Rogers said.
 

Rogers hopes her team can ridethe momentum of the opening game win into a winning season.

"It may be too early to say since haven't seen other teams," she said, "but I think we have a great shot at making this a winning season."