The Hillsdale College rugby squad came away from their road trip to Bowling Green State University with a 24-22 win last Saturday, their first of the season.
Senior captain Gabe Bunek’s try with less than five minutes remaining in the matchup put the Chargers ahead, and the team managed to stave off a last-ditch effort by the Falcons to score by keeping solid possession until time ran out.
The Chargers were led by tries from sophomores Jake Stratman and James Defontes, as well as senior Deuce Morgan’s try and two conversion kicks. But it was Bunek’s try that ultimately gave Hillsdale the lead, which the team defended tenaciously.
“We were pushing the ball up the field from ruck to ruck, and we shifted to more of a crash-ball approach, bulling our way forward,” Bunek said. “DeFontes moved the ball up the field a bit, and got high-tackled. I just picked up the ball out of the ruck and ran it in off the advantage.”
The win was the first of the spring season for the Chargers, and the first since their triumph over Bowling Green last spring. Hillsdale had been competitive in the majority of their games last year but had fallen short in the final minutes of the game.
“We’ve been on the losing end in the close games, but I thought the team showed a lot of character in getting over the hump and getting a win,” Bunek said. “We’ve been hanging tight in every game we’ve played, but now that we’re getting more experience, we have confidence that we can hang on to win, which is huge.”
The team is using a more balanced offense, with a mixture of power play by the forwards and more distribution out to the backs. Stratman’s score to open the game was representative of the squad’s strategy.
“[Senior] Christian Mull dished off to me, I cut inside and dodged their fullback, and then broke a really long run,” Stratman said. “For the most part, each team kept their possessions out of the rucks, and we were able to get the ball out to the backs.”
Hillsdale’s tackling throughout the game was outstanding, and although they gave up four tries, they kept the Falcons’ scoring to the corners, which made conversion kicks nearly impossible for Bowling Green to make.
The Chargers will face Grand Valley State University next in an away game this Saturday in Grand Rapids.
“We know we can win, and we’re optimistic going into GVSU,” DeFontes said.