Both New Paltz Men and Women’s Rugby will make their return to New Paltz Sunday, Sept. 25 at the Rugby Field located behind Lenape Hall. Both teams have participated in two away games during their fall 2011 campaigns, with the men’s team being 0-2 and the women’s team being 1-1. While off to a rocky start, fourth-year men’s player Julian de la Rua said he is confident in the men’s team and what the season holds for them.
“We started off by losing our first two,” said de la Rua. “However, one of those teams (William Paterson University) was the league champion and I thought we played a decent game against them. I think that things are looking good for us as of right now.”
The men’s team will be playing Sacred Heart University on Sunday at 2 p.m. and de la Rua said that the team is looking forward to the match-up between their opponent.
“We feel pretty good about this one,” said de la Rua. “We know that we’re a really good team and we have the conditioning to play longer and better than the other teams.”
Strength and conditioning will be key to the success of the team, as de la Rua said. He said that even though the team is smaller than most of their opposition, they are in much better shape and will be able to outlast the others.