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UMF Men’s Rugby Team wins state championship

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The UMF Men's Rugby Team won the Maine championship Saturday. (Photo by Laura Pons)

PORTLAND – On Saturday, the University of Maine at Farmington  Men’s Rugby Team overcame sleet, rain and hail to win its fourth Maine Cup in the past five years.

The UMF squad opened the day with a convincing 48-7 win over the University of New England to earn the right to face the always strong University of Maine-Orono team in the day’s winner-take-all final match. In hypothermia-inducing conditions, the UMF squad controlled much of the action, and its sustained pressure resulted in a Justin Lowe penalty kick that was the only scoring in a hard-tackling, defensive minded first half. The second half began with a series of attacks by the powerful Orono forwards that culminated in a try that gave UMO a 5-3 lead with just 15 minutes to play.

The UMF men, led all day long by captains Tom Ross and Marco Servello, chose that moment to play their best rugby of the day. UMF’s clinical rucking allowed them to control the ball until an Orono penalty gave kicker Lowe a chance to bang another 3-pointer between the posts. With the match on the line he coolly slotted what turned out to be the game winner, but that result was only ensured after 10 more minutes of hard tackling until the final whistle sounded.

The UMF players, mostly freshmen and sophomores new to rugby, suffered through a difficult fall season, but their learning curve was obviously a steep one, because for the next year they can once again claim the title of Maine’s best college rugby team. The Maine Cup is sponsored by the Portland Rugby Team, and it is the premier showcase of rugby in Maine and an event all UMF ruggers point toward from the beginning of each rugby season.

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5 Comments

  1. “the legends of Maine rugby Rick Scala and Woody Hanstein”, “Rugby icon Woody Hanstein” ! Where have I been? Congratulations on the big win!!!

  2. Congrats to Coach Woody and the boys! Looks like a scrappy group of guys keeping the tradition alive! Glad to hear its a young group!

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