On Saturday Sept. 8, the Wheaton College men’s rugby team had an exciting match against Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) to start off their season.

Beginning this year’s club season, despite the loss of the graduated class, the team has gathered many new members. With excitement and new skills to acquire, the team put up a strong fight, leading for the first half.  In a battle to field new players and create chemistry between teammates, Wheaton’s loss to MMA didn’t defeat their spirits.

Men’s Rugby players playing offense. Photo by Lily Fiore.

After talking with Andrew Iannucci ‘20, who has just started with the team this year, he seemed optimistic about the outcome of their first game and future of the team.

“Since rugby relies so much on communication and developing relationships with other teammates, while we showed signs of success, we are still very new,” Iannucci said. “A lot of what we see, even though it resulted in a loss is something we are very happy about because it shows people are very eager to play and that’s going to make us better in the future.”

Despite a final score of 29-20, Wheaton led for most of the game and had a lot of support from the fans on the sideline. Both teams gained experience to better their teams and give new players a chance to play.

Preparing for Wheaton’s next match, new skills learned during the game will help the team know what comes next in training to defeat their next rival. It looks like it’s going to be a great season for the Wheaton rugby team.