Blacksburg Rugby

Blacksburg ended their Spring 2007-2008 campaign on the road, falling 22-10 to Jersey Shore in the Men's Division III Mid Atlantic Rugby Football Union Quarterfinals. The loss marked Blacksburg's first defeat of the spring and ended a nine-match winning streak extending back to early October of 2007.

Coming off a long trip to the Atlantic City region, Blacksburg was greeted by stormy conditions, but the damp weather failed to slow down the intensity of the match. Both sides made gains in the first half, but a penalty and an unconverted try to Jersey Shore left Blacksburg on the wrong side of an 8-0 scoreline at half. An early second-half penalty goal from fullback Matt Rea brought the score to 8-3, but Blacksburg struggled to get across the whitewash for most of the match. Jersey Shore was content to give away long-arm penalties like handbills throughout the second half, but consistently stiffened at the try line to turn away a determined Blacksburg attack. Jersey Shore picked up two more converted tries to build an insurmountable lead before inside center John Pulli crashed through a crowd of defenders for a well-earned consolation try converted by halfback Kurt Goddard. Full-time came shortly thereafter, leaving Blacksburg's campaign at an end. Player-coach Chuck Rockwell praised his side for their resolve in the losing effort and named Pulli man of the match to reward his particularly brave performance.

Jersey Shore will meet Virginia RFC in the territorial semifinals on 19 April in Harrisburg, PA, with the winner advancing to the territorial grand final the following day at the same venue to play the winner of a Harrisburg v. Old Gaelic semifinal.

Blacksburg thanks its sponsors and supporters for helping to make 2007-08 a great year. Training will resume with touch rugby at Blacksburg's "Rose Garden" oval, and preparations for a summer 7s fixture list are in progress.

Update (18 May 2008): Jersey Shore went on to win the MARFU Territorial Union and make it to the semi-finals of the USA Rugby Men's Division III national knockout rounds, where they won a quarterfinal match before finally losing to Reno in the national DIII semifinals.