The men’s rugby team traveled to Columbus this weekend and edged out Big 10 rivals Ohio State 22-17 to put them at 3-1 on the season. The men started the scoring early with a penalty goal from junior flyhalf Joe Baker just a few minutes in. Only a few minutes later the Nittany lions put in the first try of the game as Junior Chris Karas continued his scoring streak with a try under the posts. However, some ill-discipline and mistakes gave the Buckeyes a lineout 5 meters out and after a couple of phases of pick and go’s, the buckeye number 10 dummied his way under the posts making the score 10-7. After the kickoff, some relentless Penn State defense led to a penalty on the 5 meter line, which senior scrumhalf Chris Saint took quick, feeding the ball to Freshman lock Dan Metcalf for the try. At halftime the score remained 17-7.
Quickly after half the men found their form again with a line out just 5 meters out, Penn State went to the front, resulting in a Sophomore prop Jon Hellmann try. Now up 22-7, the Nittany lions probably thought they had the game in the bag, but the Buckeyes had another thought. A combination of penalties and not being able to clear their own line, led to OSU having a scrum inside the Penn State 22, where the OSU number 9 took the ball and fed the 10 on a crash, putting him under the posts for his second try of the day. With 10 minutes left the OSU flyhalf added a penalty goal to make the scores 22-17. After a few minutes of pressuring the Penn State line, the Buckeyes finally coughed up the ball and the ref blew the whistle. While the men did walk away with the win, they left Columbus disappointed with many missed opportunities. This weekend the men take on Rutgers and will look to remain within striking distance of the playoffs.
