Graduating 11 of 15 starters from last year’s squad almost kept the Pitt rugby team out of the… Graduating 11 of 15 starters from last year’s squad almost kept the Pitt rugby team out of the Midwest playoffs this season. But, like most sports, almost doesn’t count in rugby.

The inexperienced Panthers have had a relatively successful fall despite breaking in new players; something captain Dave Coyne says is a testament to the young players.

“The rookies have really stepped up for us this year,” the senior captain said at practice earlier this week. “They have picked up the game really well and are doing a nice job.”

The young Panthers started their season with a tough test against Washington and Jefferson on Sep. 10. Pitt defeated the Presidents, but Coyne said it was a much tougher game than they had anticipated.

“Even though we beat them pretty handedly, it was a great learning experience for our rookies,” he said.

The Panthers’ next test came a week later against one of their biggest rivals, Franciscan University. This was the Panthers’ first league game of the season and lack of experience appeared to be a huge factor.

Pitt lost on its home field in a league game for the first time since anyone on the squad had been there. Franciscan beat Pitt by two scores, putting a serious damper on the playoff hopes of Pitt.

Things didn’t get much easier for Pitt. Last weekend, the Panthers faced another league opponent in need of a win to clinch a spot in the playoffs. Two losses in league play would assure that they would miss the playoffs.

Pitt traveled to Morgantown, W. Va., to square off against West Virginia in the rugby version of the Backyard Brawl. The Panthers got off to an early start and never trailed throughout the game, winning 20-5.

“We knew we had to win or our season would have been over,” Coyne said. “We came out with a lot of intensity and they really never matched it all game. One of our veterans, Matt Myers, stepped up and scored first to give us an early lead [and] we never looked back.”

With the win, the Panthers head to Columbus, Ohio, for Division I pool play where they will first match up with Northern Iowa.

Despite the inexperience, the Panthers have high hopes for the playoffs.

“In recent years, we always just expected to win, but coming into this year, we were scared about even getting there. After the way we played on Saturday, anything can happen,” Coyne said.

The Panthers will look to extend their season by at least a few more weeks with success in the playoffs. Regardless of what happens this weekend, they will still travel to Purdue on Oct. 1, but whether or not that will be their last game of the season remains to be seen.

Dave Thomas is a senior staff writer for the Pitt News. He will be working on a weekly club sports report. If you participate in a club sport and would like your organization to be covered, please have a club representative e-mail him at [email protected].