The Old Methodist Rugby Football Club (RDC), better known as the men’s rugby team, traveled to Rhode Island to participate in the Beast of the East Tournament. In their first trip to the tournament, the Old Methodists fared well against their opponents, familiar foe Framingham State, and new challenges the Hamilton Continentals, Worcester Polytechnical Institute (WPI), Colby College, and University of Rhode Island. They met their expectations and went 4-1 over the tournament.
“The Beast of the East tournament is actually the largest collegiate tournament in the world, not just this country. Our division – Division II – had 27 teams alone, or over 405 players, not including subs,” said president and co-captain Ohbi Hazarika ’05.
In the first match of the tournament, the team took on the Hamilton Continentals. With Bryan Byusa ’04, Seth Katz ’04, and JJ Tuchman ’04 scoring goals, the team blanked the Hamilton and rolled through the Continentals 64-0. The next opponent up was Framingham State. The team previously beat Framingham earlier this season by a score of 16-13. Old Methodists controlled the tempo of this game and blanked another opponent, this time with a score of 42-0.
Men’s rugby entered Sunday’s games with a 2-0 tournament record and first seed for their round. Sunday’s first game was against Worcester Polytechnical Institute (WPI) at 10 a.m. Even though WPI came with a larger squad, the RDC still out-matched them and swept the game 28-0. Next for the Old Methodists was their first tough game of the tournament, against the Colby Mules. The Mules shut down the team’s offense for the first time in the tournament with both teams going into the half at 0-0. Both teams kept their fierce place going into the second half. But the game went the same for both teams and ended in a 0-0 tie. The game went into penalties kicks with the Methodists taking the game 3-0.
“I cannot recall specific names as everyone played balls out. This weekend saw our team at its best. Coming into this season I knew we’d be pretty good, but didn’t ever expect this,” Hazarika said.
“The final was with University of Rhode Island, a Division I school, with 25,000 people to recruit from. We were running on empty but everyone fought hard to the end,” said co-captain Dave Delcourt ’04.
Entering the game against the University of Rhode Island, the Methodists had outscored their opponents 137-0 and won three of four. But Division I URI was the strongest opponent that they had met yet. The team, having already played four games in two days, was exhausted and could not handle the onslaught. The team did not get the results that they expected and lost the game 17-13. The Ruggers were satisfied with their results, but wanted to go further in the tournament.
“Throughout the tournament, Old Methodist’s point differential was 150-17, admirable for any team, and especially remarkable for one without a coach. While we are all feeling the pangs of coming so close, no one is hanging their head. We gave it our all and most importantly enjoyed ourselves,” Hazarika said.
The Old Methodist are now preparing for their last home game of the season against Trinity College Saturday, April 24 at 1:30 p.m on Fauver Field. The team hopes for a big turnout for this match.
“Come on out this Saturday for our last home match against Trinity College. We’re trying to organize a barbecue,” Hazarika said.
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