Men's Rugby Romps to Regional Tourney Yale, Coast Guard Swept Aside En Route to Title

Author: Jack Donaldson

As much hype as we have been hearing recently about "dynasties" in sports, there are actually very few great teams that, year in and year out, put up championship caliber performances and dominate their respective fields. The Chicago Bulls of the early 90s, the Yankees of the last six years and Miami University football have all done so, and now you can add to that list the Middlebury rugby team. Its performance this past weekend as the host of the New England Division II Championship solidified its storied place in history, and fulfilled the lofty pre-season expectations thrown on it. In winning its fourth straight New England Championship, and qualifying once again for the Northeastern Championships, (of which they are two-time reigning champions), the Panthers made a real name for themselves.

In Saturday's first round action, Middlebury squared off against Yale, who consistently fields a very strong team. "We knew what they were going to be like going into the game," said Calvin Garner '06, "and their weaknesses all happened to fall into our strengths." Indeed, Garner was referring to Yale's feeble front line, which stood no real chance against Middlebury's back line, the best in the tournament. That back line, which was held down the entire weekend by first-string members Ngetha Waithaka '04 and freshman phenom Pascal Losambe '07, was unrelenting against Yale, punishing anyone who made an attempt at a try. Losambe was the story of the weekend, playing almost all of both games with solid defense, and even scoring a try in Saturday's competition. Middlebury ended up slaughtering Yale 37-6, with Yale's only points coming on penalty kicks. This win set the Panthers up to play the U.S. Coast Guard in Sunday's title game.

"Although we were probably the favorites going into the game, it is always intimidating playing [the Coast Guard]," noted Chris Straub '07, a reserve back liner. "They are an extremely quick and tenacious team. Plus, they have sweet warm-up gear."

Watching Sunday's game, the Coast Guard show up in nationally funded apparel, confidently going about their warm up routine. However, once the game started, Middlebury wasn't fazed at all by fancy costumes, handling their opponents steadily all afternoon, and ending up on top 16-8, in what turned out to be a very close, grueling match.

"It was definitely a battle," remarked Garner, "they gave us a scare, but we were too deep and steady for their forwards." Some other outstanding performances for the Panthers over the weekend included Doug Haber '04, and prop Francis Connelly '04, two seniors who have been vital to the squad all season long.

Right now, Middlebury is focused on the upcoming Northeastern tournament in two weeks time. That event will decide whether Middlebury earns a bid to go to Nationals in the spring. If they do, then this small dynasty nestled in the heart of New England will be able to jump onto a bigger stage and gain national recognition for themselves.