Author: Henry Meier
Occidental’s Men’s Rugby Team finished their season two Fridays ago in a rough playoff match-up against USC. In one of their most physical games of the season, Oxy just couldn’t seem to break through USC’s line and wound up losing the match by a score of 41-7. While most of the team seemed disappointed with the loss, there was a sense of acceptance about how the season turned out.
“Even after losing to USC, I felt okay with myself and proud of the team, and I knew that we given it our best,” captain Rosny Daniel (senior) said. “If a few things went differently during the game, we probably would have won, but that’s just the way life goes sometimes. Someone has to win and someone has to lose, and this just wasn’t our season to go to Nationals.”
A sense of accomplishment could be detected in the Blackshirts, who battled against a variety of setbacks throughout the year.
“We had a decent season, but it’s kind of sad because we were plagued with injuries and illnesses by the end and I think it really disrupted the flow of the team (specifically the back line),” Ryan Serrano (senior) said. “That being said, I thought we played really well against USC and couldn’t have been prouder, especially of the young guys that had to step up and make plays.”
“I’m really happy with the overall performance of our team this season,” Ian Boehme (sophomore) said. “We lost a lot of experienced and athletic seniors last year and still remained one of the top teams in our division. The playoffs were kind of disappointing, but there isn’t another team in the world that I would rather play with.”
While the team may not have had its most successful conference season this year, going 4-3 after last year’s undefeated league campaign, it was still a year where the team broke new ground for Oxy Rugby. In their February 13 matchup against Loyola Marymount University, the Blackshirts defeated LMU 31-10, the first time they had defeated the Lions in ten years. With the win, Oxy also claimed their first ever Doherty Cup, a trophy given to the winner of the matchup to honor the deceased Daren Doherty, an LMU rugger who lost his life in a drunk driving accident after an LMU-Oxy match several years ago.
“By far, the greatest accomplishment of the season was beating LMU,” Daniel said. “We have a long standing rivalry with them, and this year we were finally able to get over the hump and win the Doherty Cup against a competent opponent.”Though a modest Daniel downplayed his own accomplishments, several of his teammates were quick to point out his “Man of the Match” honors in the game as one of the more memorable moments of the season as well.
For the seniors who not only had played in their last game of the season but the last game as members of Oxy rugby, the memory of their past four years was unanimously positive. Bringing the program to unprecedented heights topped the list for many of them.
“My freshman year we were 0-5,” Serrano said. “We lost EVERY game. By junior year we were undefeated and this year we had the potential to do the same (altho [sic] still had a pretty good season). I think that speaks for itself as far as the changes that have been made to this team. We’ve really come a long way and learned how to be a team on and off that field.”
While the wins and losses certainly were a big part of it, changing the culture that surrounded Oxy rugby was also an integral part of the legacy of this years’ senior class.
“Back in the day we used to practice on Stewey [sic] Beach with 10 people and 1/3 of a coach,” Daniel said. “This year we had a full time head coach, and 2 assistant coaches. Every one of these coaches was great, and they were consistent in their attendance. We had at least 20 guys at every practice, and close to 30 at some as well. It has been great to see the increased numbers and increased rugby seriousness at Oxy.”
With the past behind them however, the Blackshirts have mixed feelings about next season. With a talented and large group of seniors graduating this year including co-captains Daniel and Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz, Oxy will be hard pressed to replace the hole that they will leave both in terms of physical talent and leadership. Still, many expressed a tempered optimism that the team will be back at its winning ways next year.
“Realistically, our future isn’t clear,” Boehme said. “We are losing a lot of seniors, all of whom play important positions on our team, and we are only returning about 4 juniors. However, the core group that is returning, is very good, which gives me hope that we can be very competitive next year. It will take a lot of hard work in the off-season and a lot of recruiting to get us back to where we were this past season, but I believe we can do it.”
Even some of the graduating seniors are excited to see what happens next year. “It may be a tough year next year because there are a lot of seniors graduating, however, there have been vast improvement across the board so I am pretty sure that the Blackshirts will still be a dominate team in our division,” Daniel said. “The most interesting thing to watch next year will be the development of a new captain and new leadership. The seniors really led the team this year, and both captains are leaving. So finding a new group of dedicated leaders is crucial.”
So despite a playoff loss to the hands of USC, and a loss of many teammates at the hands of graduation, the Blackshirts keep pushing forward the way only rugby players can.
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