By Miles Montgomery
The Colorado College men’s rugby team faced off against Colorado School of Mines under the lights last Friday night, kicking off Homecoming Weekend and drawing a loud crowd of both students and alumni.
The match was the club’s first of the season, and the team was ready. Unfortunately, hampered by injuries and a lack of personnel, CC suffered an 85–7 defeat at the hands of their well-drilled Mines competitors.
“It was our first game, and a lot of our freshman’s first time playing a full 80 [minutes] of rugby,” said Sam Mayer ‘20. “We started out strong, but a combination of low numbers, injuries, and mental errors allowed Mines to put up a lot of points quickly. From that point on, we were playing catch-up, and that is never a good spot to be in.”
Nevertheless, there were silver linings in the heavy defeat. First-years and newcomers were able to gain invaluable match experience in a fast-paced environment against a quality opponent, which will be beneficial for the club going forward into the rest of the season.
Looking to the future, the team believes they will be better prepared heading into their rematch with Mines, which iwill be held in Golden, Colorado on Oct. 27.
The team then traveled to Denver over Block Break to take on Regis University on Oct. 19. The Tigers dropped the first contest by a score of 29–7. They managed, however, to secure victory in the second match, although it was definitely in a nail biter. The Tigers came out as winners with a score of 24–19.
“We lost the first by a try, but played a much better second half”, Aidan Prior ‘22 said. “We continued to improve in the second game, and won by a try. Many of our rookie freshman learned a lot about 7s style of play, and improved by leaps and bounds each half we played. Altogether, we are happy with the team performance.”
The Tigers will look to build on the winning momentum in their next match against the Mines, and revenge is certainly on the menu.
“We are pumped that we get to play Mines again so soon after the homecoming game. The team is in good spirits after the win against Regis, and we feel that we will be able to gel as a team with more time to practice and play together,’ Mayer said. “We will be prepared to give Mines a run for their money.”
CC has only one more home game this year — on Nov. 2, when they take on New Mexico Tech.