Rugby

The Harvard rugby football club remained unbeaten Saturday, edging a tough University of Massachusetts squad, 9-6, in Amherst.

Although the Crimson got out of Amherst with the victory, the club came close to giving the game away several times.

"We have to find a way not to lose games," Kingston said. "We just don't seem to believe in ourselves right now."

Despite outplaying UMass in every phase and keeping the hosts bottled up in their own end for much of the first half, Harvard only capitalized for nine points on three Nathan Koenig penalty kicks. Still, the Crimson forward pack controlled scrimmage play.

A Crimson kick was blocked at the goal line and Harvard failed to down the ball, allowing UMass to score. For Harvard, the kick was a bad case of deja vu.

"This [kicking] is a really big problem," Kingston said. "Last year, we had at least seven kicks blocked in the same spot and always in big games."

This time, the Crimson survived to remain unbeaten (2-0) in the young, but promising season. The ruggers opened the season Wednesday with a 44-0 shellacking of Boston University. Eleven different players scored, and the score could have been worse if the field goal posts had been set up for two-point conversions.