Both the men and women's rugby teams fell one victory short of capturing the New York State Rugby Conference state championships this Saturday at Genesee Community College.
After an undefeated regular season, the UB men's club rugby team, known as the "Mad Turtles," came in as the number one seed in the state. Unfortunately, UB could not continue its perfect season and ultimately fell to the second-seeded Cornell by the score of 11-3. Despite strong play throughout the game, the Mad Turtles could not break through the Cornell defense for a try.
UB allowed Cornell the opportunity to get an early lead by letting up two first-half field goals. After allowing the points, Buffalo tightened up its defense and refused to give in to an impressive Cornell team.
"We beat them earlier in the season, but today was a different story," said fullback Pete Mancuso. "We missed our opportunities to score while they cashed in on theirs."
Those missed opportunities include two missed penalty kick field goals by Mike Frisk. UB attempted to get on the scoreboard early and tie the match at 3-3 with a long 42 meter attempt that the gusting winds batted aside.
Later in the half, UB missed another opportunity from 28 meters out when Frisk couldn't connect on a sharp angled attempt that would have brought the Mad Turtles to a 6-3 deficit.
Despite what the scoreboard said UB dominated the time of possession and field position over the course of the game, putting continuous pressure on the Cornell defense. The Mad Turtles, however, were unable to crack Cornell's defensive efforts.
The offensive pressure the Mad Turtles applied kept Cornell out of scoring range until the final seven minutes of the game. Cornell kicked it deep into the UB end zone where Buffalo's defense had trouble clearing the ball, with Cornell ultimately recovering the ball for a touch putting to put the game out of reach.
"We had a chance until the very end to take the game," said Mancuso. "We played great defense and we gave ourselves a shot. We just couldn't find a way to score."
Earlier in the day, the women's rugby team also struggled to score when they too took on Cornell. The Buffalo Flying Squirrels had their hands full, moving the ball and winning scrums against the bigger Cornell team.
Cornell bullied their way to a 32-0 victory over the second seeded Flying Squirrels.
On a wet, muddy field, the outmatched UB team had trouble getting the drive it needed to push Cornell's scrums and to gain any field position advantage.
Cornell has been a powerhouse in the women's rugby ranks for years now and UB's Flying Squirrels are making strides in gaining the same respect as traditional powerhouses such as Cornell.
"Cornell is a very tough team with a lot of depth and experience," said Lacey Bromley. "We are young team with lots of freshmen that is improving and learning every day.
Neither the Flying Squirrels nor the Mad Turtles have to look to next year just yet, however. Despite having their troubles on Saturday, the two teams' regular season performance qualified them for the Northeast Rugby Union Playoffs that UB will be hosting on the fields near the Ellicott complex. Though their opponents are not known as of yet, the teams are sure to be well prepared and ready to bounce back from their tough losses suffered this weekend.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
