Preview by Michael Griffin for Goff Rugby Report.(Tracy Griffin photo)

UMass 

Nickname: Minutemen

Home Pitch: Al Baker Field, Amherst, Ma      

Head Coach: Philip Ciccarelli

2015 Conference Rank: #4

The Minutemen have propelled their way up in the last half-decade from a Division IAA team to becoming a respectable and recognizable program on the East Coast. Coming off back-to-back ACRC Bowl wins (North Texas in 2014, NC State in 2015) and a fourth consecutive Beast of the East Tournament championship, UMass is exhibiting they are a team to be reckon with.

This season the Minutemen are hopeful as ever, returning nearly all of their backs from a successful spring campaign as well as many strong, battle-tested forwards, such as Captain Ben Brzoski and All-American Mike “The Ruth” Ruther. Back’s Captain, Brendan Kelly of Milton, Mass., is also going to be a player to survey this fall. Kelly’s capacity to play smart rugby and exceptional skill set was a primary contributing factor to the Minutemen’s success in 2014, before he was sidelined with injury in 2015. 

At the helm in Amherst is Head Coach Phil Ciccarelli. Ciccarelli takes a robust, blue-collar approach to practices, making players pride themselves on hard-hitting defense and using a forward-heavy offensive system. UMass is questionably the most improve team in the ECRC. Due to an influx of gifted players, the Minutemen have ascended to a modest powerhouse.

But the Minutemen are also still looking for their first big ECRC upset win. Though UMass finished the regular season 5-3 last year the three losses came at the hands of conference foes AIC, Boston College, and new comer New England College. So, the question becomes can UMass win a big conference game? To make a third consecutive trip to Charlotte for the ACRC’s, UMass will more than likely have to finish in the top three among the ECRC this fall, making their work cut out for them.