The Penn State Rugby team will compete in their 54th season this fall with a very ambitious schedule. The team will begin with preseason camp the week before classes start that will culminate with the annual Alumni game on August 20th on the West Campus Fields.
“I’m excited to get going. We are month out and the boys are chomping at the bit,” said head coach Blake Burdette. “The fall season is an important part of our goal of a national championship in the spring. We will look to install some of our pattern and put some work into building the kind of team culture we want with this group of student-athletes.”
Penn State will open up in Kingston, Ontario, CA against Ontario University Athletics’ 4 time defending champion Queens University. The match will be the first test of the young season for both teams. The game will be played on Thursday September 1st at 12 pm at Nixon Field on campus followed with a reserve game.
The team will then turn around and renew an instate rivalry when they play host to the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday September 3rd at 11 am.
“No doubt we are opening with a very tough opponent in Queens. We are excited to challenge ourselves and see what we are made of,” Burdette said. “We then come home and play a team in Pitt that will be looking to improve on a great season they had last year.”
The Nittany Lions will then begin their Rugby East campaign against the Mountaineers of West Virginia University on Friday September 9th at home at 6 pm. After a bye week Penn State will welcome back Delaware to University Park on Saturday September 24th where the home team was successful in their meeting last season.
It doesn’t get any easier for Penn State as they will host newly minted varsity program St. Bonaventure University on Friday September 30th and then turn around and travel to the University of Buffalo to face the Bulls on Saturday October 1st.
The team will then go on the road for two games against the Cadets at Army on October 8th and Iona October 15th before heading into the second bye of the season. They will finish up October by hosting Wheeling Jesuit University out of West Virginia on Friday the 28th. To round out the season Penn State will travel to another instate rival and defending Rugby East champion, Kutztown University on November 5th.
“The season has no breaks for us and that’s what its going to take for us to become a more consistent team. This fall we have to focus on the process of becoming a better team week in and week out,” Burdette said
You can follow all of the action this fall on twitter @PennStateMRugby and at www.GoPSUSports.com.
9/1 – Away – Queens University 12 PM
9/3 – Home – University of Pittsburgh 11 AM
9/9 – Home – West Virginia University 6 PM
9/24 – Home – University of Delaware 12 PM
9/30 – Home – St. Bonaventure University 6 PM
10/1 – Away – University of Buffalo TBA
10/8 – Away – Army 1 PM
10/15 – Away – Iona College TBA
10/28 – Home – Wheeling Jesuit University 6 PM
11/5 – Away – Kutztown University TBA
