OLEAN, N.Y. -- It was a sunny but crisp autumn day in upstate New, York. Kutztown was preparing to kick-off against Rugby East foe, St. Bonaventure University. The Bonnies were riding high as they sat on top of the National Collegiate Rugby's national rankings, while looking for their first win ever, against the Golden Bears.

Kutztown enters the game after last weeks close loss to Navy, on the road. The Golden Bears are still battling injuries with key players on the injured reserve list but as always, fielding a formidable side to take on the Bonnies. The two sides traded blows for the first twenty minutes as Kutztown and St. Bonaventure found themselves close to the opposition try line on several occasions. However, it wasn't until the twenty fifth minute that St. Bonaventure exploited a gap in the Golden Bear defense and scampered into the try zone with the game's first score. The conversion attempt was no good and the scoreboard read St. Bonnie 5  KU 0. Kutztown's attack was constantly pressuring the Bonnies out wide and eventually broke through when Fullback, Aiden Smith (Trumbull, Conn.) broke a tackle and sidestepped a defender to score in the corner. The kick was wide and the contest was dead even. St. Bonnie 5  KU 5. Both teams played to a stalemate as the half ended and the respective sides conferred with their coaching staffs. 
 
The early part of the second half was more of the same, as each side probed and penetrated into the opposition's half. Each side putting up valiant defensive efforts to thwart the scoring threats. Then at the fifty minute mark, St. Bonaventure found themselves within spitting distance of the Kutztown try line. The Bonnies ran several "pick and go" moves, as their forwards attempted to bully their way into the promised land. Time after time, the Golden Bears recklessly, hurled their bodies at the charging black jerseys. Kutztown fighting to keep them inches from scoring. The Bonnies became frustrated and changed gears. Instantly, they hurled a bullet pass outside of the mangled bodies on the try line. A St. Bonaventure halfback and a few of his friends found enough space to dive over the try line for the score. The conversion was good and the score stood at, St. Bonnie 12  KU 5. Then within ten minutes of that score, Kutztown came roaring back with several successive phases to put them within ten yards of the Bonnie try line. The Golden Bear backline called a move involving a "Ghost Runner" that acted as a decoy, with their streaking wing, Blake Andrews (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown Area) taking a pass behind the Ghost, to touch down for the score untouched. It was a beautiful move orchestrated by the Kutztown Captain and Fly Half, Thorne O'Connell (Johannesburg, South Africa/Jeppe).

Wait...the referee called it back and indicating a penalty against Kutztown. After a lengthy discussion between O'Connell and the referee, the try was disallowed. Appears that the referee interrupted the "Ghost Runner" as a blocking ploy to the defenders. This was certainly a blow to the Kutztown momentum at this phase of the game. As well as a possible life saving decision for St. Bonaventure. With twelve minutes remaining, the Bonnies find an opportunity and score to make it 17 - 5 in their favor. Hold on to your hats, here comes Kutztown roaring down the pitch with the eye of the tiger, as Lock, Alex Schlager (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) bulldozes his way into the opposite try zone. The conversion by O'Connell is good. St. Bonnie 17 KU 12. Kutztown gets the ball back on the re-start. The stadium clock read four minutes and the Golden Bears are kicking and clawing their way into St. Bonaventure territory. The Golden Bear forwards are dominating the contact moment and take away everyone's breath when Kutztown's number eight, Breyten Maritz (Cape Town, South Africa/Paul Roos) makes a line break within twenty five yards of the opposition try line. He is in the clear with support as the St. Bonaventure defenders angle in on him toward the touch line. He is going to be driven out of bounds. Maritz senses the danger of going over that cliff and losing possession to the Bonnies. So in desperation to keep the attack alive, he passes the ball back over his head to his teammates in support. Unfortunately they didn't receive it, as the ball was tipped off of a few finger tips before landing in the hands of a black jersey. However, not to worry, the scoreboard still had two minutes and twenty seconds ticking on the clock and it was St. Bonaventure's ball deep in their own territory. The line out ensued and the Kutztown defense was all over those black jerseys. Play halted and the referee blew his whistle for full time and the game was over. Yet the scoreboard clock still read one minute and five seconds. The referee's watch is always the official time in a match but imagine the despair in the Kutztown side when that final whistle blew and they thought they had time to turn defeat into victory. A victory that they were determined to create. It was another razor thin lose for the Golden Bears. However, we shall always give credit where credit is due. The Bonnies played brilliant defense throughout the contest and dug deep to pull out a win on senior day, at St. Bonaventure. 

The Golden Bears look forward to next week when they will host a play-in game, for the final eight teams, in the first ever, National Collegiate Rugby organization's national, division one tournament. Kutztown will come in as the third seed out of the Rugby East Conference, along with St. Bonaventure and Penn State. Fellow conference members, Army and Navy have opted not to participate in the NCR tournament.
 
The Kutztown second side had another stellar effort for their final game of the fall campaign. They shutdown St. Bonaventure 29-19. The Golden Bears crossing the try line were , Flanker, Harrison Beil (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth), Fly Half, Anthony Sessa (Norristown, Pa./Faith Christian), along with two conversions, Center, Michael Greene (Harlem, N.Y.), and Helmut Baschleben (Maui, Hawaii) with two trys on the day.

RUN WITH THE BEARS !