The men’s rugby club at Pitt State defeated the University of Central Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 19 (56-22).
Men’s rugby club president and senior in communication Ivan Walter was proud of the team for their hard work and determination.
“I was really happy to see all of our hard work come together,” Walter said. “… There were very little mistakes (and) everybody was firing on all cylinders. It was a lot of fun to be a part of.”
Walter was happy to see the team all come together and play as a team.
“It seemed like we played a very selfless game,” Walter said. “Everybody was looking out for each other… Nobody was selfish really. It was just a wonderful performance, a wonderful team performance overall.”
Junior in communication and the on-field team captain Ty Goss was also proud of the team for coming together and is happy to head into the conference with a full team win.
“We played really well, and we played like a team,” Goss said. “That was the best part about it. We didn’t really have any one player stand out and do anything spectacular, nothing that really jumps out. We all had great performances across the board which I will take any day of the week in comparison to one or two individuals having a stellar game. Just because it’s great going forward, especially into conference now which is coming up in two weeks. So, that’s really good to get a win like that under our belt.”
There were not many things that Walter saw the team needed to work on.
“Well, obviously there’s always something to improve on,” Walter said. “Just basic, fundamental things like rucking (and) technique, just really very detailed… stuff we can always improve on. But besides that, no. We passed the ball well, we hit our lines hard, (and we) played a good defensive game. Overall, I’m very proud of my team.”
There is always room improvement and Goss noticed a couple of things that need to be fine-tuned before heading into their next match.
“Our ball carrying was really good across the board,” Goss said. “We had guys running hard, running low… There were a couple times where we let… them score a little too much in my opinion. Defensively, we need to stick with it more and the problem is we have a younger team. They don’t realize that the 80 minutes, you’ve got to play all 80…”
Walter hopes to see the team continue fighting hard, more so now that they are heading into the conference.
“Well, I hope we can just keep the ball rolling… because we go to conference and it’s do or die from here on out,” Walter said. “There’s nothing that’s guaranteed and if we want to keep playing, we gotta keep winning.”

Goss hopes to see the team continue this win streak and continue winning throughout the conference as well.
“(At the next game, I hope to see the team) keep this momentum going,” Goss said. “We’ve just built a really good foundation, especially coming off that loss which it was a very difficult loss but it’s something that can definitely help us, and we can use this momentum to keep going forward. So, it’s good to get that first win back, especially after that loss, and keep the momentum rolling.”
The rugby teams next game is the Collegiate Gateway Conference Championships on Saturday, Nov. 2.