photo by Jordan Chaffee
Josh Coltura stops an advancing Geneva ball carrier. The Rugby Club lost the match 33-10 on Saturday. 

The Point Park University Rugby Club dropped their second match of the season to Geneva College 33-10 on Saturday, Sept. 13. 

Both teams were looking for their first win of the season at Reeve Field on the Geneva College campus. Geneva was coming off of a 68-14 loss against Franciscan the week before and Point Park was trying to bounce back after their 26-10 loss against Grove City. 

“Franciscan taught us a lot last weekend, so we wanted to come out and have fun this week, ” Geneva forward Dana Phlegar said. 

Point Park played with their backs against the wall for the first 10 minutes of the half. It wasn’t until after the Golden Tornados drove the ball over the goal line for the match’s first try that the match was played at the other end of the field. 

Point Park followed up the Geneva score with multiple drives down the field that ended in intercepted passes and turnovers. After a Point Park dropped pass, Geneva was able to take the ball down the field and extend their lead to 14-0 just past the halfway point in the first half. 

Facing an early first half deficit, Jake Como forced a Geneva turnover and started a Point Park drive. Como would eventually stumble across the goal line after practically crawling 15 yards through Geneva defenders.  

“I knew I had to keep on my feet. I tried to keep my head up and keep my feet moving,” Como said. 

Point Park shift the momentum and gave the team a much needed boost of confidence. Geneva was later stopped just one yard short of adding another try before the end of the half. 

Geneva wasted no time getting started in the second half scoring in the first 90 seconds to pad their lead 21-5. 

The game was then back and forth until Como crossed the goal line with 26 minutes left. The try was called off after Como took too many extension moves to try to score after initially going down. 

It only took five minutes after the score was called off for Como to cross the goal line yet again to pull Point Park within two tries. A failed conversion kick left the score at 21-10 with 20 minutes left in the match. 

As Point Park began to drive again, another pass was intercepted by Geneva and taken almost the whole way back. Geneva would later score to put the match out of reach at 28-10. Multiple Point Park turnovers down the stretch left them unable to pull off the comeback victory. Geneva added a score as time expired to put the final score at 33-10. 

Geneva’s Phlegar scored three of Geneva’s five tries in the match. 

“I just wanted to play rugby and come out and have fun. Point Park has tough and big guys. [Como] especially is a fantastic player. He knows what he’s doing,” Phlegar said. 

“It was good to get the points but it was a collective effort to get me down there and get into position to score,” Como said. 

Fatigue played a major role in Point Park’s second straight loss to start the season. Point Park changed their game plan from week one to involve their big men more. Captain Richie Carver said that despite the team’s need to condition better, their game plan will stay the same.  

“Our big guys got tired. We got tired as a unit. We have adjustments to make. The game plan worked but we just have to tighten it up,” Carver said. “We played to our scheme,” Troy Johnston said. “Our game isn’t perfect. It’s never going to be but it has to be pretty close if we’re going to compete.”

Point Park will play their next match on Friday against rival Carnegie Mellon University. The Campus Activities Board (CAB) will host a tailgate before the match. Fan vans will then be available to transport students to CMU for the match.

“We need to focus our game. We don’t have to worry about the intensity when we go and play them. We just need to play smart,” Johnston said. 

“If we go in with the aggressiveness and the tenacity that we have already towards CMU, we should be able to come away with a [win] next week,” Como said. 

The CAB rugby tailgate will run from 5-7 p.m. in Village Park before the team’s 8 p.m. kickoff at CMU.