The Penn State rugby program is pleased to announce the dates for our 2013 Winter High School Clinics!

Boy's High School Clinic - Friday January 18th through Sunday January 20th

Girl's High School Clinic - Friday January 25th through Sunday January 27th

For information on our Winter High School Clinics - 2013 Winter Clinic release.doc

Watch the ruggers in action this weekend as the men's team takes on Temple and the women's team prepares for playoffs through an intra-squad scrimmage.  Catch the games live at <a href=http://www.ustream/tv/channel/penn-state-rugby">ustream/tv/channel/penn-state-rugby.

 

The lady ruggers will kick off the day at Noon (EST), playing an abbreviated scrimmage.  The match will be the final tune-up contest before entering the playoff season.

 

Temple brings three teams to Happy Valley, with the 1^st XV taking the field at 1:15 PM (EST).  The fixture is the last scheduled contest for the Fall season.

 

Next, the men's squad will turn its focus towards its 7's game.  The Lions will look to qualify for the USA Rugby National Championship 7's tournament via the Big Ten 7's tournament (Nov. 10-11).

 

Having secured the regular season eastern-division title, the women will move to Elkhart, IN the following weekend (Nov. 3) for the Big Ten Universities Championship.

This past weekend the women traveled to West Point for a physically demanding game against Army in the freezing cold.  Easily the most challenging game so far for the fall season, physically and mentally. Penn State was put to the test from the starting whistle. 

 

The first half started slow for Penn State as they allowed Army to take a small lead.  This did not last long however, as the half ended PSU 17 - Army 14.

 

The second half, Penn State fought relentlessly while increasing their intensity and focus to hold Army at 14 while adding another 22 points to the board for blue and white. 

 

The game ended PSU 39 - Army 14 with tries for Penn State by forwards: Hope Rogers, Bitsy Cairns, Katrina Bodenschatz and Nadia Garnet.  Two conversions were made by Lauren Shissler.

 

The women will play again this Saturday following the parent brunch.  The opposing team is still undetermined at this time.

 

-by Casie Hoffman

The Penn State Rugby program had a busy weekend with 5 matches at two different locations. Top of the billing were a pair of A side matches against rivals the US Military Academy.

The womens team faced Army at the Anderson rugby complex at West Point, and came away with 39 - 14 victory. Leading 17 - 14 at the half, the team was lead in scoring by sophomore prop Hope Rogers, who had a hat trick on the day!

The Mens team faced the Army ruggers in the comfortable surroundings of West Fields, and showed how hard they have been working this fall in coming away with a 43 - 20 victory. Leading 22 - 8 at halftime, the men were lead in scoring by senior flanker Kevin Kimble, junior outside center Blaze Feury, and sophomore winger Sam LaPaille, each touching down twice for Penn State in the contest!

In the other matches , the women dropped a tough B side match to Army, and in a pair of matches against new varsity program Wheeling Jesuit, the men went 1 and 1, with our B/C side losing a very close match by 5 points against the Wheeling Jesuit A side, and the C/D side winning comfortably against their B side.

All in all a very good weekend for the program.

Full match reports to come soon, so check back!

The Penn State Rugby Program is pleased to be hosting our Fall 2012 Parents Brunch this coming Saturday, at 10:00am. The event will once again be held in the beautiful surroundings of Cafe Laura, on the Penn State campus. The perfect setting for you to meet other rugby parents, and enjoy a fantastic brunch before an exciting day of matches.

The program's administration apologizes for the short notice, but in a desire to book this very popular venue, we were at their mercy, and had to wait for their management to confirm with us.

The Brunch will start at 10:00am, and the cost will be $20 per person. Current players are permitted to join you for the meal, but need to pay, and will need to leave before the event concludes to prepare for their matches later that day.

To register for this fun semi-annual event, RSVP via email or phone to Molly Heckard. She can be reached via email HERE or call 814-863-7186. Please be sure to provide the name of your child who is on the team when you register.

Payment (cash, or check made out to Penn State University) will be accepted at the event.

If you plan on coming to town early, we have a block of rooms reserved at the Ramada Inn at a rate of $79+tax. Penn State Rugby Parents is the group name, and the phone number is 814-238-3001

We look forward to seeing old friends, and meeting new ones, and truly hope you can make the event.

The Penn State men's team kicked of the 2012 homecoming weekend with another pair of wins. PSU dominated the University of Delaware in this friendly match with the final score reading 58 to 19 when time ran out. Delaware's only try of the match came in the 39th minute of the second half. The matches were played in a very exciting atmosphere Friday night at 7pm under the lights. After winning both games last weekend and this weekend, Penn State is undefeated in their fall developmental season.

Penn State's hard work so far this year seems to be paying off, displaying a hard physical defense and starving Delaware of possession. The team also showed a cohesive attack, with a nice interplay between forwards and backs in their relentless attack.

Joe Corrado, Dom DeFalco, Christian Backus, Blaze Feury, Kevin Kimble(2), Chris Vakasisikakala, Sam Lapaille, and VhinVuong all  made the score sheet, but it was definitely a whole team effort that kept Delaware out of this game. Freshman flyhalf Will Pazos was 5 for 9 on conversions, and 1 for 1 on penalty kicks for a personal tally of 13 points in his A side debut.

This coming Saturday the A-side men will square off against rival Army, at 6pm. The B and C-side teams will be playing a pair of matches against the country's newest varsity rugby program, Wheeling Jesuit, as curtain raisers for the Army game. Penn State will be looking to continue their success in their second to last week of games in this developmental season. Army vs Penn State is always a real barn burner, and this should be an incredible weekend with 3 matches and our annual fall recruit weekend all in store. We will definitely be looking for all of our fans, family, and friends to "fill the hill" for this big weekend!

Let's go State!

Submitted by Rugby Intern Kevin Casey.

There is nothing like traveling 8 hours for a match and having a bigger crowd of supporters than the home team.  Thanks to our parents for being there for us!  We appreciate all your help!!

 

Thanks, also, to our alumni that came out!  It was great to see you.

This past weekend saw the Penn State Women's Rugby Team take its inaugural BIG10 Rugby season on the road, traveling to the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

 

The 7+ hours traveling on the bus, on Friday, may have led to a slow start for the Lady Lions, but the team quickly asserted their dominance Saturday morning against the University of Michigan, running in 8 unanswered tries.  Execution and handling were swift and clean, and their defense strong enough to turn a very physical U of M team away.

 

The 50-0 final score does not truly represent the pressure and fight that Michigan brought to the game.  Penn State was regularly under pressure at the breakdown, finding it hard to recycle quick ball at the rucks.  The strong Michigan forwards were adept at keeping the ball-carrier off the ground, and not allowing for good "go forward" in rucks.  The Penn State forwards also struggled under strong pressure from the U of M scrum.  We won most of our own ball but lacked the aid of being on the front foot.

 

The difference in the game was PSU's ability to attack the space left open by Michigan.  Great striking lines, good communication and determination to pass through the contact, along with a high pace of play, proved too much for Michigan.

 

Captain Kelsey Harris opened the scoring in the first half.  Bitsy Cairns, Kate Flanagan, Hope Rogers, and Lauren Barber rounded out the first-half scoring.

 

Michigan stiffened their defense and actually controlled possession for long periods of the second half.  This slowed Penn State's scoring opportunities to a trickle but both Kate Flanagan and Lauren Barber went over for their second tries of the day.  Bianca Dalal carried to final try of the A-side match, but Flyhalf Lauren Shissler had a good day with the boot - going 5 of 8 with conversions.

 

Penn State went on to win the Second-side match 22-0, starting a side filled with rookies (some playing their second game ever).  Tries were scored by Courtney Williams, Allison Ng, Bianca Dalal, and Taylah Pipkin.

 

A short ride after the match to East Lansing and the team began preparations for their Sunday match against Michigan State.

 

Correcting for the shortcomings in their play from Saturday, the Lady Lions were too much for a determined Michigan State Team.  The forwards were dominating in the scrums and the team devastating at the breakdown. 

 

The first half saw tries from Bianca Dalal (3), Annie Lucas (3),  Brie Barto, and Katrina Bodenschatz.  Lauren Shissler went 2 of 8 with first half conversions.

 

Second half tries were scored by Katrina Bodenschatz, Kelsey Harris, Nadia Garnett (2), Bianca Dalal (2), and Alanna Luzier.  Conversion duty was shared by Bianca Dalal and Hel Hoffman.

 

Final score PSU 96 - Michigan State 0

 

The second-side match final was PSU 53 - Michigan State 0.  Tries were scored by Courtney Williams, Taylah Pipkin (2), Sammi Reed, Jackie Giordano, Arielle Brown, Kate Flanagan (2), and Amanda Hommer.  Kicking duty was shared by Jackie Giordano and Cassie Stockhausen.

The below article is reprinted from Rugby Magazine's online presence, RugbyMag.com.  I hope you enjoy it.