3/28/15 University Park, PA: Spring is underway in Happy Valley and the PSU Men’s Rugby team opened their “warm” weather campaign with a 38-14 victory against Buffalo Men’s Rugby club in a friendly exhibition. Although the calendar marked the end of March, Saturday’s match was played in frigid 35 degree temperatures, with snow flurries being a regular occurrence throughout the contest. From the first minute of the match, Penn State controlled the tempo as Senior Captain Dan Metcalf intercepted a Buffalo pass and took it 10 meters for the first try of Saturday’s clash. A few minutes later, Penn State would keep possession and again dot down in the corner of the try zone for their second score of the day. The Lions showed solid defensive structure and maintained possession for most of Saturday’s exhibition. Still though, there was much room for improvement, as PSU players weren’t too thrilled with the fact that they conceded 14 points to a somewhat lesser opponent. There were certain handling errors and some “sloppy” play that was pointed out, most notably in the second half when a slew of reserves were brought on in an attempt to up the tempo. Although on paper it proved to be a victory, senior Tom Bashara was quick to point out that there was still a lot of work to be done moving forward. “I think at times we looked really good, and there were some positives to take from today”, Tom said, “but at the end of the day it’s still not the full brand of rugby we want to play. We know that a lot will have to improve if we want to make a true run in the upcoming playoff bracket.” The leading scorers on the day were senior prop Michael Washington and Dan Metcalf, registering two tries a piece, while freshman scrumhalf Jimmy Ronan chipped in two conversions. The Nittany Lions next match up will be at home on April 4th when they face an admirable opponent in the Schuylkill River Men’s RFC in a contest that should be a physical test for a maturing Penn State side. After playing Schuylkill River, the team will embark on their first playoff game of the D1A Spring season when they travel to the University of Wisconsin for a pivotal first round match up, that could make or break the success of PSU in the 2015 season. For updates and game stats follow @PennStateRugby on Twitter.

Starting XV vs. Buffalo: 15. J. Latriano, 14. S. LaPaille 13. S. Niu, 12. R. Irimescu, 11. M. Eife, 10. R. Morris, 9. J. Ronan, 8. C. Burian, 7. S. Mahon, 6. A. Iscaro, 5. D. Metcalf ©, 4. J. Corrado, 3. Z. Barnes, 2. T. Bashara, 1. M. Washington

-Joe Corrado

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