The men's club rugby team will rival Harvard University's team on Saturday in the second of only two home games all season.
The Homecoming game against Harvard holds a lot of weight for the team according to Paul Huelskamp '06, a member of the team. The winner of this game will compete in the playoffs and will earn a chance to compete in the National Sweet Sixteen in the spring.
"[We are] absolutely pumped. Everyone hates Harvard, and getting the chance to play them at home over Homecoming with both team's seasons on the line is amazing," Tom Manzo '07, co-captain of the team, said.
The rugby team is 3-1 so far, and goes into Saturday morning's game with a lot of momentum, having shut out the University of New Hampshire, 33-0, and Brown, 45-0, in their last two games. Losing to Harvard on Saturday would mark the end of their season.
"The boys are really fired up. We've shutout two straight teams since our loss to BC and everyone knows what's on the line this weekend," Aziz Sayigh '07, co-captain of the team, said
For the past two years, Dartmouth has made the national tournament.
"[Winning on Saturday] would be the third year in a row. I would love for that to become an annual tradition for the Dartmouth ruggers," Sayigh said
Huelskamp expressed excitement about this year's team, which has a different make-up from the winning team last year.
"Last year was arguably one of the best years that the club has had. We graduated 11 out of 15 starters, so this year it was great to see a lot of guys who didn't see a lot of playing time last year stepping up," Huelskamp said.
Huelskamp attributes the team's success and his positivity about Saturday's game to the strong coaching staff.
"We have one of the best coaches in all of rugby. We'll go play a team that is bigger, stronger and faster than us, but we are always better prepared," Huelskamp said.
The Rugby team hopes for a big turnout of students and alumni who have traveled to Hanover for Homecoming weekend, according to Huelskamp.
"There are a lot of seniors on the team, and this game could be the last game they play at the club, and they'd love to see some fans, some support," Huelskamp said. "We hope for some nice weather, a good game--make it a good game and good weekend all around."
Saturday's game is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse.
"Having fans come out to the game means that much more for the guys playing, [it] gets us pumped up," Huelskamp said.
