The Penn State men's rugby team (4-1, 3-1) travel to take on Davenport University (2-1, 0-1) in Columbus on Saturday, October 19th. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2014, when Penn State emerged victorious in a 30-6 handling of the Panthers in what was called a "statement to the rugby community that the Nittany Lions are indeed back."
Davenport is returning to action after a 47-12 rout of Grand Rapids RFC last Saturday. Despite only playing three games on the season, the Panthers find themselves in good standing as the #14 team in the country. However, having their only ranked competition so far be #5 Navy, a battle in which they lost 32-22, this weekend's match should act as a good benchmark for the team going forward.
Penn State is coming off of their first loss of the season to #7 Kutztown in a game which was being dominated by the Golden Bears throughout the first half until Penn State was able to claw their way back to make it a close game in the second half. In the end, the comeback was thwarted by the clock, and the PSU men walked away on the wrong side of a 34-24 scoreline.
"This weekend is a good opportunity for us to rebound after last weekend's tough loss," said Penn State head coach Justin Hundley. "With it being a non-conference matchup, it's also a good opportunity to see some of our younger guys get their first appearances for the squad. We hope we can come out on top this weekend and build some momentum going forward into our upcoming stretch of tough opponents."
Kickoff is slated for 2:30 PM at Fred Beekman Park (Ohio State University's home pitch) on Saturday.