Rugby to host WCU Saturday

Furman Rugby will launch the fall season Saturday as the squad hosts Western Carolina University. The 1 p.m. game will be held at John S. Roberts Field on the Furman campus.

The Paladins return all starters from last year’s squad which completed matrix play with a 3-1 record and narrowly missed the Southern Rugby Conference Play-offs.

Seven talented freshmen will make their debut for the Paladins: Chuck McAllister-Ashley, Adam Miller (Greenville, SC), Jacob Milchuck (Raleigh, NC) Jeff Tonge (Kent, Ohio), Patrick Musau (Nairobi, Kenya) and Miles Lerner (Edina, Minn) will take to the pitch for the first time.

The Furman team will be without the services of sophomore Nick Rossano, who was injured last month during an all-star college game. Rossano, the squad’s most valuable forward last year, suffered a severe concussion and hematoma and was hospitalized for a week.

While Rossano has returned to school, he will be lost for the 2013-14 season.

The well-balanced Furman roster includes four seniors, seven juniors, seven sophomores, seven freshmen and are captained by Turner Morsches (Columbia City, Ind.) and Eric Dolan (Somers, New York).

“I am excited about our team this year,” says Furman head coach John Roberts. “We have an athletic team and are blessed with a bit of depth, too.”