Rugby Team Takes Second in New Englands, Qualifies for Easterns Despite Loss to UMass

The Harvard rugby team hadn't lost to another Eastern team for two years, but UMass-Amherst rallied in the second half and pulled out a last-minute, 13-12 victory over the Crimson in the finals of the New England College Championships at Amherst this weekend.

Both of the finalists were undefeated this season coming into the tournament and easily won their first three games on their way to the finals. By making it that far they both qualified for the Eastern Championships in the spring.

Harvard, the number one seed in the tourney, dominated the first half of yesterday's final. Charlie Bott booted two penalty kicks to put the Crimson ahead 6-0 at the half, and the UMass rooters became even quieter in the second stanza when flyhalf Keith Watling scored a drop kick to add three more points to the Harvard lead.

After the teams, both of which were playing their fourth game in two days, traded punts for a while, the strong and quick UMass backs began making longer forays towards the Harvard line, and they eventually broke through for the only try of the game.

This score brought the UMass players and the home crowd to life. The momentum continued to swing away from Harvard as the Unicorns began controlling the ball and the flow of the game, taking the lead, 10-9, with two penalty kicks.

Then the Harvard pack took over. They had been having a tough second half, but now they started driving UMass off the ball. Their efforts finally paid off when the referee called a penalty on the Unicorns, giving Bott a chance to kick in his third three-pointer of the afternoon.

With the crowd hooting and the ball placed at a difficult angle. Bott was under intense pressure. Outside center Keith O'Hana recalled, "I didn't want to watch it." O'Hana had nothing to worry about though, as the kick split the uprights, and the Crimson moved into the lead with under four minutes to play.

The ruggers' celebration proved a bit premature when UMass drove down the field to within 20 yards from the Crimson line. An attempted drop-kick went wide, but the referee called a penalty on a Crimson late hit. With time running out, the UMass kicker calmly booted the game-winner, and Harvard lost only its second game out of the last 32.

"It was the best rugby game I've been in at Harvard," Bott said, adding. "They just kept the ball away from us and ran it better in the second half."