Due to Loss at Nationals, Men's Rugby Ends a Successful Season
By Stuart Schroff
Contributing Writer

Claremont Men's Rugby got off to an explosive start in the Division II national championship tournament in Huntsville, Texas last Saturday but couldn't pull off the win on Sunday to advance to the championship game.

After a season of solid and constantly improving play, Claremont put it all together against the University of Northern Iowa last Saturday to win 31-7 and advance to the semifinals. Northern Iowa scored first, but Claremont's defense stopped them at 7 and held them there for the rest of the game.

"That was when we picked up our game and realized that we were playing a different caliber team than we had been in Southern California," commented flanker Matt Froman '04 on the initial try by Northern Iowa.

Drew Plebani PI '03 put down a try to take Claremont ahead, and then a few minutes before the end of the second half, team captain Alex Mondau '04 put down another try to make the score 17-7 going into the second half.

The try started with an amazing kick return by Nick Dreves '04 who made a 30-meter run, stiff arming opponents all the way down the field. When he was finally tackled, the ball was recovered by Claremont and kicked into the try zone. Mondau, charging down the field, dove on the ball as the Northern Iowa fullback was picking it up, and touched it down for a try.

In the second half of the game, Claremont continued to dominate, both defensively and offensively.

Strong defensive play from backs Mondau and Tom Woo '04 kept the opposing backs in check, while the Claremont forwards, led by team captains Drew Plebani PI '03 and Charlie Dresow PI '03, dominated Northern Iowa's pack.

Offensive runs from wings Scott Pelletier '04 and Ben Lacoss PI '03 kept challenging Iowa's backs defensively, while forwards Seneca Harberger HMC '04 and Micah Pueschel '04 continually powered through rucks and mauls. Tries were scored by Plebani and Lamar Lee '04 in the second half.

"That was the most satisfying win of the season," said Mondau. "We knew they took us out of our game last year, and we made the adjustments to improve and beat them."

In the semifinals Claremont faced Radford College, and despite yet another display of dominant play, Claremont lost 3-8.

Rain kept the both the ball and turf slippery, and Claremont was plagued from the start with penalties.

"The rain and reffing threw us off our game," commented Woo. "We never got enough phases together to mount any legitimate offensive attack."

In spite of these setbacks, Radford was hard pressed to gain territory, and much of the game was spent in their defensive end of the field. However, Claremont could not score a try.

"It seemed like any time we got down there, there was some kind of penalty called on us," explained Liam Patrick '03. "They were also very good tacklers."

Initially the game was played evenly on both sides, but Radford got ahead early in the first half on with a penalty kick that made the score 0-3.

Down 0-3, Claremont suffered a setback when Woo was put in the sin bin for what can only be described as an incredibly good tackle-Claremont cheers turned into looks of disbelief as the referee described it as a "dangerous play."

"It was tough psychologically to lose the best hands in the 5-C, but we pulled together and held strong defensively until Tom returned," said Froman.

Despite having only 14 players to Radford's 15 for the ten minutes Woo was in the sin bin, Claremont continued to maintain control of the game and keep the ball in Radford's end of the field.

Claremont finally put points on the board in the second half when fly-half Ethan Tittler '06 put a penalty kick through the uprights, tying the score at 3-3.

With the score tied, and the game being played in Radford's defensive zone, Radford got a lucky break that gave them a try to make the score 3-8.

Refusing to give up, Claremont continued to put penetrating pressure on Radford, succeeding in crossing the try line multiple times, only to have the tries taken away because of penalty calls.

When the game-ending whistle blew, Claremont was distraught with the knowledge that a trip to the national championships, and possibly becoming the national champions, had been well within their reach.

Despite the heart-breaking loss to Radford, Claremont had a very successful season, and a very strong showing in Huntsville.

"It was a great season," reflected Mondau. "We were successful and we got a lot of new people involved in the program."

Throughout the season Claremont competed with schools varying in size from large universities such as UCLA and USC to small schools like Cal Lutheran and Westmont. Losing only to Radford, their record for the season was 11-1. Next season, which starts in earnest in January 2004, the team is looking to again be successful and return to nationals.