Rowan rugby defeated the University of Delaware in a nail-biter comeback victory 36-34. The Profs advance to 3-0 and third in the conference.
The young team fought hard to get back into the game, down 24-7 at halftime, it was up to the team to realize what they were doing wrong, fix it, and prove themselves.
“It was a considerable improvement, we had a lot of unforced errors in the first half,” Assistant Coach Bill Stom said. “We are really our own worst enemy. We came out the second half, stepped it up a little bit, and they [Delaware] were matching us, we scored a try and they scored a try. It was really the last 20 minutes that was the difference maker.”
With four games left in the regular season, this comeback showed the team what they need to improve on and what their potential can be.
“I think we got to have the mindset, we got to push all the way to 80 minutes and that is what happened, I wished we could have done a lot better in the beginning but we came back and we played well together,” Captain Dante Lorenzini said. “The change in play in the team was that we were playing a lot more aggressive and more as a team helped us to win. We played more individually in the end of the first half and beginning of the second half, but [during] the last 30 or 20 minutes, we really started playing well as a team.”
The next match is Saturday and the Profs will take on St. Joseph’s University. The Hawks are 4-0-1 and are first in the conference. Their tie is against West Chester University; the Profs will take on the rams on Nov. 5.
The Hawks will travel to Glassboro, giving Rowan a test for the Profs to remain undefeated and take down the first seed in the conference. It will also show the Profs what needs to happen in order to reach the playoffs.
“We are underperforming and I think the players will give the same assessment, we are not playing to our potential,” Coach Stom said. “There is a lot of good rugby and a lot of challenges ahead of us.”
Stom added what the last 20 minutes of the comeback meant to the team and how it showed him.
“I think the last 20 minutes was a good confidence booster, it showed us a couple of things, these guys have resiliency,” Coach Stom said. “Despite the hurdles and stuff they had and throughout the game, we had injuries and guys stepped up. They stepped up big when it mattered most, so I think that confidence will be a really big character forward and also the realization that we haven’t played to our potential yet. There is a lot of good rugby in us and we have to figure out how to get it out of us.”
Heading late into the fall season, Glassberg explains what he would like to see out of himself and the team in the back half of the year.
“I think for the rest of the season the team has a really strong possibility to do well,” Glassberg said. “We are all starting to mold together and be one, so I think that if we just keep communicating on the field, they will do a lot. They will do a good job, I’m hoping I’m not too injured and can get back. It is going to be nice to see those guys out there and do what they can.”
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