The Massachusetts men’s club rugby team defeated UConn 52-10 in the first round of the postseason. A hard fought and aggressive game fell into the favor of UMass (7-0), as the Huskies (3-3-1) were unable to convert on their chances.
The game’s momentum was slowed by a significant number of penalties. The Minutemen were on the receiving end of 29 penalties, giving UConn possession of the ball for most of the game.
Head coach Philip Ciccarelli said that against a better team, that amount of penalties would cost UMass the game. He also shared that the Huskies garnered a plethora of chances that UMass’ defense was forced to stop.
Offensively, the team’s backs were strong, putting down five tries as a group. The backs used the side of the field to create space for themselves.
At the start of both halves, UMass scored within the first minute of the opening kick. The start of the second half saw three backs working the ball up the right sideline. Out of a run by Liam Concannon, Oisin Allen distributed the ball to Quinn Fisher, who found a lane towards the right sideline and broke free momentarily. While being tackled, he played it back to Jonah Ly, who only had two Huskies to beat. Before the first man could attempt a tackle, Ly shoveled it back to Kevin Daly, who took the ball with speed and ran the ball to the middle of the try zone.
In the opening minute of the game, the ball was worked to David Mandoukian. After picking his head up, Mandoukian found a gap in the UConn front line and took it all the way down to give UMass the early lead.
The Minutemen nine, Allen, recorded two tries in the first half. Coach Ciccarelli said that he had a great game both in scoring and in spreading the ball around.
Thirteen minutes into the first half, the Huskies had a lineout called not straight, resulting in a UMass scrum. Out of the scrum, Allen found some open space himself and put the ball down. In the final minutes of the first half, Allen did the same, taking it himself out of a ruck.
Discipline was an issue for both teams, as UConn took three yellow cards and a red card in the game. This gave the Minutemen a numbers advantage for a decent portion of the game. The red card was given after a Huskies player pulled Gabe Laboy’s hair. Concannon was one of the Minutemen who capitalized on this, finding a gap down the middle and taking the ball down from the halfway line. This try increased Concannon’s try streak, as he has scored in every game this season bar one.
Lineouts have become an important part of UMass’ game plan. While they gave the ball away on their lineouts twice, the Minutemen gained possession on six of UConn’s lineouts.
UMass will play Boston College in the Liberty Conference playoffs finals. Boston College defeated Yale 28-25 in the other semifinal matchup. UMass and Boston College did not see each other in the regular season this year for the first time in over 10 years.
Coach Ciccarelli was excited by the prospect of playing the Eagles, saying that it doesn’t feel right being Liberty Conference champions without playing Boston College.
Myles Donato can be reached at [email protected].
