After two disappointing losses to start its season, the Bowdoin Men's Rugby Team is in dire straits. However, all would be forgotten with a win against arch-rival Colby on Saturday.
"We haven't started the season like we had hoped to, but we're looking forward to playing Colby. A win against the Mules would go a long way toward salvaging our season," said senior co-captain Ryan Devenyi.
Colby will travel to Brunswick on Saturday, flying high after having won its first two matches. The Bowdoin squad will try to knock the Mules down for the first win of the season.
"It will be a tough match, a very physical match," said senior co-captain Mark Fuller. "But we know that if we hit them harder, we'll come out on top. And I believe we're going to do that."
In its first home match of the season, Bowdoin hopes to beat its rivals handily.
"A victory against Colby is always especially sweet," said Devenyi. "We'd love to beat them, and I know that we'll bring the intensity and the passion we'll need to beat our rivals."
Last weekend the Polar Bears played in-state rival University of Maine-Farmington (UMF) and came out on the losing end of 20-10 score.
Junior Matt Schweich was able to score Bowdoin's first try of the season on a long run to put Bowdoin up 7-5 close to halftime. Senior Alex Chittim converted a penalty in the second half to cap the scoring for the men in black.
While not pleased with the end result, Head Coach Rick Scala believes that the Polar Bears played strongly in some areas.
"Our rucking was sub-par," said Scala, "but our tackling wasn't bad and our physicality was good."
Scala pointed to the play of junior center Derek Castro and senior wing forward Paul Dwyer as exemplary. "[Castro] was all over the field and made many key tackles," Scala said. "And Paul Dwyer's rucking was great and his hitting was even better."
The Polar Bear B-squad was able to notch a win against UMF on Saturday and play very effectively against a more experienced side.
"Our B-team played very well.They have a lot to be proud of," Scala said.