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The University of Maine men’s rugby team traveled to Providence, Rhode Island last weekend, where they competed in the 22nd annual Beast of the East tournament. The Black Bears’ bracket included Holy Cross, Northeastern, Vermont, Rutgers, Albany, Hartford and Rhode Island. UMaine was granted two matches but lost them both.
The Black Bears brought a young team to Rhode Island but held their own. In the first match against rugby powerhouse Hartford, the Black Bears held the Hawks to 10 points. Unfortunately for UMaine, the Hawks held them without a try all game. A three-point field goal by senior Bill Reichl was the only score the Black Bears could get against the tough Hawk team. Hartford won 10-3.
“We only had a few vets and a ton of rookies, so it was a great learning experience for them,” said junior Jason Jendrasko. “It was our first time playing a game this semester, and we had only been outside two times before the tourney, so we hadn’t gotten to practice all the aspects of the game.”
In the second match of Saturday’s first-round matchups, UMaine took on Stony Brook. This time the Black Bears fell 20-7.
“We brought down about 24 players,” said Jendrasko. “We were just throwing in a lot of rookies, giving them a chance to play.”
With the two losses over the weekend, UMaine started its spring season 0-2. They will have another chance to get out and play this weekend, this time much closer to home. The Black Bears will take part in the Maine Cup on Saturday in Cumberland, right outside of Portland.
Jendrasko says his team will build on their two games in Rhode Island for Saturday’s tournament in southern Maine.
“We were really happy with the way we played in our games and now we know what we need to work on,” said Jendrasko. “Hopefully we will do well in the Maine Cup this weekend.”
The other Maine schools that will take part in the Maine Cup are UMaine-Farmington, who also competed in the Beast of the East, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby and Maine Maritime Academy.
The teams will face off to decide Maine’s top team. The Black Bears played all five teams in the fall, and finished 0-5 on their fall season. They hope that their strong appearance in Rhode Island is a sign of good things to come.
