Coming off a two-game suspension, the men’s rugby team shook off a weak first half to defeat the University of Maine at Farmington, 22-15 on October 13.  The team, marred by rust and injuries, came from behind led by an impressive showing from the reserves. 
Robbie Deveny ’13 and Matt Marr ’13 provided the necessary spark to start the second half, with Peter Vallimarescu ’13, who was returning from injury, also finishing the game strong. 
The team’s captains credit the win to the depth and the versatility of the individual players, many of whom can play multiple positions. 
Injuries have been rampant for the team this season, though Phil Cuddeback ’13 maintains that it is just a challenge of the sport. 
“We try to prepare by having tough practices, but by doing that, inevitably, people are going to get injured there,” said Cuddeback. “If we have easy practices, they’ll get injured in the game. It’s something we’re always balancing.”
Captain Hunter Rusack ’13 hinted that the fear of injury might have caused the team to play timidly. He also suggested that low morale in practice over the last two weeks might have contributed to their lackluster first half performance.
“It definitely set us back, knowing we didn’t have a game to prepare for,” he said, “We weren’t prepared to play a good team, so we had to readjust our strategy. It took us a half.” 
Rusack’s comments expressed what both he and Cuddeback called a common theme of their season: not having anything to play for. Following the September 20 verdict that the team violated the College’s hazing policy, the team was forced to forfeit two games. The suspension left them out of the playoff hunt and eliminated contest against their two toughest regular season opponents, Colby College and the University of Maine at Orono. 
Nonetheless, the team, drew inspiration from a number of sources as they resumed their dramatically shortened season. Some, Rusack reflected, chose to look past the forfeits and focus on the team’s otherwise unbeaten streak, which spans the last two years. Cuddeback suggested that he and his teammates wanted to remind opponents that Bowdoin, although limited by external factors, is still the most dominant team in the league. 
 The team did continue its streak in their final week of regular season play, blowing out the University of New England 69-17 on homecoming weekend. The B-team played an exhibition match against their coaches and returning alumni.
David Deitz ’13 was commended by the team leadership for his performance despite a broken hand and Connor Quinn ’15 was acknowledged for his consistent scoring ability, having scored at least two tries in each match this season.
The victory against U.N.E will likely conclude the team’s season since a proposed scrimmage against Tufts—the team that upset them in the playoffs last year—is improbable and their odds of reaching postseason play, while still existent, are remote according to Rusack. 
“What I’ve taken away from this season is that Bowdoin Rugby is not going to roll over and die,” Rusack said. “We had a great team this season but next year’s team will be just as good if not better.  I expect a playoff appearance from them.”