With the Buffalo State women’s rugby club on a bye week, all eyes were on the Buffalo State’s men’s club. In what has been a disappointing season, even with a 2-4 record, the team still had a chance to sneak into the playoffs with a win.

However, a 27-7 loss to Fredonia in the final game of the season pushed the Buffalo State men’s rugby club’s season record to 2-5, a conclusive, disappointing end to the season.

The offense couldn’t seem to get in a rhythm, which has been the case for the majority of the season.

“We haven’t really been able to create opportunities to score all season, and in a game where you have to score to win, that isn’t a good thing,” senior captain Justin Brzyski said. “The veterans and experienced players played to their potential all season, but watching the new young players learning and picking up the game presents a great future for Buffalo State rugby.”

A season like this can be beneficial to the young guys on the team. The goal is always to win games, but when there are challenging circumstances, you have to find something else to motivate you.

“We had five back-to-back winning seasons, however character isn’t built from winning. A lot of times, you learn more from losing,” August Edwards said. “Making the playoffs would have made a big statement for next year, but it was a developmental season. I had a great time playing with family I would give a kidney for.”

The rugby club was very young this season. The focus quickly went to developing the young players for the future.

“We knew our team was young and inexperienced, so we focused on making intelligent rugby players,” Bryzski said. “The playoffs would have just been icing on the cake for the season.”

The team’s youth was called up from the A-side in the middle of the season to bolster the roster and to teach them the game of rugby.

“It was a huge learning experience for a lot of our young players. The experience gained by fresh rugby players will only benefit them and will show next season,” Brzyski said.

There were a handful of young players that opened up some eyes and showed promise.

“Tom England, Justin Morris, Lucus Halt and Anderson Burgos were big young players on A-side that came up and made the most strides in improvement,” Brzyski said.

“We have to put this season behind us, now we get ready for travel season in the spring,” Edwards said.

Buffalo State women’s rugby club will wrap up their regular season at home against Ithaca on Saturday, Oct. 29. They will look to stay undefeated and enter the playoffs 8-0.

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