The men’s club rugby team finished its Ivy League campaign with a bitter 29-25 loss to Penn (4-7 overall, 2-5 Ivy League) on Sunday. Princeton (3-8, 1-6) ends the season ahead of only Cornell in the standings.
After a pair of close losses to Yale and Harvard last weekend, the Tigers were looking forward to the match against the Quakers as a chance to prove that they were better than their league record suggested.
In the opening minutes of the match, it looked as if Princeton was well on its way to making such a statement. Junior flanker Ben Spacapan won the ball for Princeton with a timely counter-ruck, and senior eight-man and captain Zak Deschaine initiated a string of passes that got the ball out to freshman wing Colin Sylvester. Sylvester used a stiff-arm to deny his defender, then charged 30 meters down the right sideline for the first try of his career.
Penn answered almost immediately when Penn fly-half Jonny Chia broke through Princeton’s line and offloaded to his fullback, who ran in untouched.
Princeton responded in the fifth minute when senior fullback Adam Nassr knocked through a penalty kick to give Princeton an 8-5 lead.
That was all the scoring the Tigers did in the first half, as they watched several promising drives end unsuccessfully in Penn territory. The Quakers scored again before the half when scrum-half Andy Martin touched down his first of three tries.
Princeton seemed to start the second half with renewed energy, but that energy quickly dissolved after Penn added to its lead in the 42nd minute. The Tigers lost control of the scrum in their own end when the ball popped out of the side and into the hands of Martin, who ran it in by himself. Penn's Jonny Chia made the conversion to give his team the first two-score lead of the game, 19-8.
The Tigers knew they still had time for a comeback and answered by putting together their most patient and balanced possession of the game. Princeton marched the length of the pitch by passing the ball down the line on each phase and recycling the ball quickly after each tackle. With the ball in their captain’s hands, the Tigers drove in a maul to score the try. Nassr missed the conversion to leave the score at 19-13.
Minutes later, Martin again capitalized on a fortuitous bounce to score his third try of the game. The scrum-half chased down a kick that bounced over Nassr’s head and recovered the ball in the try zone.
Penn earned its biggest lead of the match in the 55th minute when Chia found another seam in the Princeton defense and offloaded to center Henry Tai for Penn’s fifth try.
Down 29-13, the Tigers continued to fight and held the ball for most of the match’s 25 remaining minutes. In that time, Deschaine and sophomore outside center Ross Powell managed tries, but both of these scores followed long goal-line possessions. Simply put, it took Princeton too long to score. After Powell's try, Princeton was down 29-25 with five minutes left. The Tigers had their chances to score in those five minutes, but a sense of desperation seemed to rob Princeton of its composure.
The forwards did well in the lineouts and dominated the scrums, pushing back Penn’s scrum with ease. This control of the set pieces, along with scrappy play from forwards like Spacapan, gave Princeton plenty of possession, but the Tigers could not contain Penn’s scrum-half and fly-half, who scored or directly set up each Quaker try.
“Give Penn’s halfbacks credit,” head coach Rich Lopacki said. “They won the game for their team.”
Lopacki pointed out that many of Princeton's forwards put forth impressive performances in the loss.
“Ben Spacapan was our man of the match for putting in the hard work that doesn’t always get noticed,” Lopacki said. “It’s easy to be the guy who gets all the glory, but true character means fighting your hardest when people aren't watching.”
Though Lopacki is not accustomed to seeing his team finish this low in the Ivy League standings, he points out that the Tigers often found themselves on the losing side of a very close game.
“If a few unlucky bounces of the ball had gone our way this season, we could have been a playoff team,” Lopacki said.
Read More
Women’s ice hockey names Courtney Kessel as new head coach
Lily PampolinaFollowing the resignation of Cara Gardner Morey, Princeton appointed Courtney Kessel as head coach.
Following the resignation of Cara Gardner Morey, Princeton appointed Courtney Kessel as head coach.
Former women’s basketball forward Parker Hill ’25 signs professional contract in Switzerland
Doug SchwartzAfter a successful senior season, women's basketball forward Parker Hill signed a contact to play professional basketball in Europe, following in the steps of her past teammates.
After a successful senior season, women's basketball forward Parker Hill signed a contact to play professional basketball in Europe, following in the steps of her past teammates.
No. 7 women’s lacrosse season ends in NCAA quarterfinals against No. 1 UNC
Hayk YengibaryanWith the loss, the career of senior attacker Mackenzie Blake comes to an end. Blake finished her career with a program-best 231 career goals and three first-team All-Ivy selections.
With the loss, the career of senior attacker Mackenzie Blake comes to an end. Blake finished her career with a program-best 231 career goals and three first-team All-Ivy selections.