Sometimes winning has a hint of regret in it, and for West Virginia University, winning the Keystone Conference last year carried with it a bit of the dark cloud in the silver lining.

 

WVU, St. Joseph’s, and Shippensburg ended the 2013 fall season tied at the top of the standings. Because the Keystone counted the submission of match reports as bonus points in their standings, WVU ended up winning the conference after they submitted their final match report. It came down to the by-laws and bonus points, and while the Mountaineers felt they were the best team, they also didn’t like how it all came down.

 

“We returned pretty much our entire A-side from last year,” said club president and starting flyhalf Joe Watson. “And we wanted this year for it to be completely clear who was the best team. We knew St. Joe’s and Pitt and teams like that would come tuning for us. So we buckled down - early runs, extra training - because we wanted it to be clear.”

 

It helped that this year the Keystone Conference held a playoff. And when it was all done, there was no doubt. WVU shut out Temple 66-0 in the semis and beat St. Joseph’s 22-17 in the final to repeat as champions. Along the way, in six regular-season and playoff games, they gave up only 38 points.

 

“The key is communication,” said Watson. “Everyone knows the sets we run. Everyone trusts each there. Defense is a big part of what we do and we practice it every session.”

 

Against St. Joe’s, it looked as if the defense would win out, as well. WVU ran out to a 22-0 lead, but things broke down a little bit late.

 

“We started shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Watson. “We kept giving up penalties, and they were obvious penalties - not releasing, not getting back onside. I wasn’t concerned because we knew we were just giving them those points, but it’s something we need to fix.”

 

Looking ahead, WVU will face Stony Brook in the ACRC Bowl Series. 

 

“The main thing about this program is that I don’t think they want to be just a big fish in a small pond,” said WVU Head Coach Richard Glover. “We’re looking to teams that will challenge us. Stony Brook will be a good, competitive game against another conference champion. It will be beneficial for both teams.”

 

“We’re excited about Stony Brook,” added Watson. “They won the Empire and we know they’re a good team.”

 

Getting to that Bowl won’t be easy. The team isn’t funded well and is trying to raise money for the trip now.

 

“We are pretty much self-funded,” said Watson. “The University supports us the best they can, but they have 48 sports clubs. So we’re limited. We have guys from all walks of life, and we try to set the dues so no one gets turned away because he can’t afford to play.”

 

WVU Rugby has set up a GoFundMe account to raise money to get to Charlotte for the Bowl Series Nov 21-22. You can see their GoFundMe page here: