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The University of Maine men’s and women’s rugby teams have not had the luck they had hoped starting off their 2004 season. The men’s record is 1-2, but their lone win came when Bates forfeited last weekend.
The women are 0-2, coming off a loss in their second game of the year this Saturday to Bates 60-0. However, for the second week in a row, many of their starters played injured. Although Bates scored early in the first half and took a big halftime lead, Maine stepped up their play in the second half and held their own.
“We came out strong and got a little frustrated after the first try they scored,” said team captain Nicole Beckwith. “Than we came out ready to rip them apart in the second half and we did.”
Bates scored just once in the second half.
“We really didn’t give up out there,” said Beckwith.
Maine won the b-side game, proving to their opponents that their young players are improving and Maine is continuing to build for the future.
The Bates loss came a week after their first weekend out, in which the Black Bears also suffered a disappointing loss 35-0 at Farmington.
Maine will play on the road one more time on Saturday, before coming home for their last two games.
“We’re going to be down a few of our key players due to injury,” says Beckwith, “but we’ll come out hard and we won’t let them get anything without earning it.”
They play at Colby at 1 p.m. this Saturday, and then play their home opener, the second to last week of the season, at 11 a.m. next Saturday, Oct. 16 against Bowdoin. The game will be followed by both a v-side game, and an alumni game. The alumni game will consist of the current team against players who graduated in recent years. The final week of the season UNH comes to Lengyel Field to take on the Black Bears, at 11:30 a.m.
On Saturday, the men played at Colby and lost in a blow-out to an experienced Colby team. A week earlier they had won when Bates failed to secure field time, suffering a forfeit. Although the Black Bears did not do nearly as well as they had hoped against Colby, they are still optimistic about playing at a higher level when they play at home on Saturday against Bowdoin.
Saturday’s game will begin at 1 p.m. on Lengyel Field, and a b-side game will follow. There will also be an alumni game for the men’s team on Oct. 16.
