The Loyola rugby team finished its best season in four years, taking home second place in the Mid-Atlantic Tournament after their 24-23 loss to Mount St. Mary’s University.
The team has tranformed over four years and with it the rugby program. Even their loss benefits the future of the program.
“Despite this loss, we’ve had an amazing season,” Head Coach Sam Brock said. The team ranking among the top five teams nationally.
“We came here and we made ourselves known; we have everything to be proud of,” Brock said after the game.
After four years of coaching the rugby team solo, Brock added Jerry Malina to help coach the team.
“He’s a coach that knows how to win and knows what it takes to win and having him with us is a tremendous asset,” Brock said.
This season the rugby team has competed on a level that placed them among the top rugby programs in the U.S. Loyola’s team won the Deep South National Tournament, beating teams that traditionally outplay them making them one of the top eight teams in the country.
“We’re a tag group but, we have defeated strong teams before,” Brock said.
Among the coach’s highlghts of the season, defeating a school highly-ranked like University of Alabama proved to him how far his team came.
The Mid-Atlantic Tournament brought the best teams in the region to play for a chance at National title shot. In this tournament Loyola only had to play two games. In the first round Loyola Beat Mount St. Claire 44-15 increasing their nationally ranking to the elite eight.
Qualifying them for one more match for the first place in the tournament and the chance to be among the top four teams in the U.S. Along with this title, the winner would be sent to Denver, Colo. to compete in the Glendale Stadium for a National Championship title.
For Music Industry Junior Shawn Maheia, not even and injury could keep him from playing in this milestone for the team.
“I wanted to give my all to my team and I couldn’t do that on the sidelines ,” Maheia said.
Winning against Mount St. Claire sent Loyola to the second round at North Florida University. But in the second round, Loyola was defeated. For the four seniors on the team who have been a part of the program for four years, the loss was hard. Brock, however, said that it was important to remember how far the team had come.
In the post-game huddle, Brock told his team that hanging their heads would take away from the work and dedication they put into this season that put them in reach of a national championship.
Alla El-Jaouhari, team captain and management senior, said after talking to a member of Mount St. Mary’s team after the game, he learned that Loyola’s team has some of the best defensive players in the league.
“One of the forwards from Mount St. Mary’s said that the team spent two hours discussing how to neutralize our defense, from videos they shot during our first game in the tournament,” El- Jaouhari said.
El Jaouhari looks at the progress of the team and knows exactly what helps them win games.
” We made an impact and it’s only uphill form here, we just have to keep catching swift and sexy passes and carving up the other team’s backs like a Thanksgiving turkey,” El Jaouhari said.
Marlin Williford can be contacted at [email protected]
(Left to Right) International Business Senior Roberto Homar, Management Senior Alla El-Jaouhari, Biological Science Senior Jeremy Le and Economic Senior Daniel Williams hold their Southern Championship Trophy. (MARLIN WILLIFORD/ Photo Editor)
