Since its start in 1965, N.C. State’s men’s rugby team has not seen a season with as much success as this past season’s in its 45-year existence. The team not only made it to nationals, but also upset the No. 1 Division-2 ranked team in the nation, Cal Maritime.
“We are the first team to make it to Nationals and the first team to win a national caliber game,” Phillip Burcal, club president, said. “All in all everybody was excited. We were all pumped up and ready to play. It was new territory for us. We had never done anything like that as a club in our entire existence, and a lot of these guys as rugby players.”
The road to nationals was not easy as the team competed against tough schools across the region. After finishing the season with a record of 10-2-1 and taking the title in the Carolina Rugby League, the men continued on to the regional match in Atlanta, Ga. There, the team beat Ole Miss and continued on to secure one of the two spots the South Final Four territory region sent to Nationals by triumphing over Georgia Tech.
With a spot secured, the team traveled to Sanford, Fl. where it faced Cal-Maritime, a team projected to win the entire tournament. Within the first three minutes of the game the Pack took the lead and set the tone for the rest of the game.
“In first three minutes of game, we had just taken the field with supposedly the team that was written up by a rugby magazine to win the tournament,” Burcal said. “They were supposed to beat our butts by 40 points, but in the first three minutes Will Teague scored, ran straight through the middle of their defense, untouched, and put a try down right underneath the posts. It really leavened our spirits. We had the confidence on our side at that point, and from that point on in the game it was kind of a slug fest.”
At the end of the first half, State held the lead 14-12, but as the second half began Cal threatened to take over after scoring off two scrums and a successful conversion. With the tides turned and Cal Maritime up 17-14, State’s journey seemed to be at an end until Greg Hesler made a game winning play to ensure the Pack a trip to the Elite 8.
“It was really a team effort,” Eddie Youngs, a freshman in engineering, said. “Every single person came in and played as hard as they could. We took it to the No. 1 seed in the nation.”
With just one game standing in the way of a trip to California and a spot in the Final Four, on Sunday, April 18, the Pack took on Miami of Ohio University. Miami came out strong, scoring early and often. The Pack fought hard, but a late game comeback was not enough to make up for the points lost early on.
“I think there was a lot of fatigue,” Youngs said. “We trained for two weeks against how to play against Cal, but knew nothing going in about Miami of Ohio. Miami was a much better team than Cal by far. They were a great team, and I think we took the game seriously, but it was very difficult to maintain that high of winning that first game. It’s hard to stay on that level.”
Despite this heartbreaking loss, the team looks back on its season as a success. Not only did the success move it from the Div. 2 to the Div. 1 level, but team members were left with the satisfaction of knowing that they had surpassed everybody’s expectations.
“We definitely play with a lot of good teams and the thing I have learned from everyone else on the team is to play with a lot of heart,” Bryan Maxwell, a junior in civil engineering, said. “A lot of these guys play with a lot of pride and passion.”
