Saturday brought another beautiful sunny day for the SPU men's rugby club, but this time the sun smiled on the Falcons as they defeated University of Puget Sound (UPS), 25-20.

In the final minutes of the game, the UPS Loggers sent the Falcons a return kick, which was snagged by senior outside-center Tyler Jennings. Jennings wasted no time, running swiftly up the field for about 75 yards. As he closed in on the try-zone, he passed the ball off to junior inside-center Drake Lemm before feeling the impact an abrupt UPS tackle.

Lemm ran the ball through the center of the try-zone, uncontested, for five points, allowing for a direct try kick, which was made by sophomore David Addison for the final two points of the game.

Jennings said sophomores Aristides Diamant and Stephan Shocki were also among those who scored tries in Saturday's game.

Jennings said that, overall, it was a stark contrast to the team's most recent match-up with Western Washington University (WWU). With smaller forwards and fewer power hitters, the game consisted of fewer injuries on the Falcon side. Lemm dislocated his finger at the start of the game, but went back in minutes later. His injury was the worst of the day for SPU.

"We felt in control of the ball most of the game," Jennings said.

When these two opponents met in the fall, it was another story as UPS walked away from the game victorious. At the time, Jennings said, the Falcons had only been practicing for two weeks and did not have a coach.

This time, SPU was equipped with months of late night practices, dedicated outside-of-practice work-outs and a new head coach.

Lemm said that the biggest difference, which has allowed the men's team to improve, is the presence of head coach Ryan Carpenter.

"He has done a lot for our team," Lemm said of Carpenter.

In Saturday's game, despite a lack of depth in their line-up, with only two substitutes, SPU's improvement showed, Jennings said.

"They had trouble getting past our backs," Jennings said. "We just worked hard on defense to create a wall that they couldn't get through."

Creativity on the offensive side also worked in the Falcons' favor as they worked on cross-passing plays before swinging the ball to the outside in order to confuse UPS, which worked well, Jennings said.

In the second half of the game, the Loggers turned to a kicking game plan instead of running and passing the ball up the field.

"A kick can get you better field position without having to run the ball a lot," Lemm said.

Lemm explained that, by kicking the ball down the field, UPS tried to avoid the Falcons' strong back line and did a good job of recovering the ball further down the field, which is often a hard a challenge for team using this strategy.

This win leaves the Falcons tied with the Loggers at eight league points and an overall 2-3 season record in the Men's Collegiate Division II West Rugby league. This places them eight points behind WWU (4-0), and four points above Seattle University (SU).

SPU will face SU this coming Saturday. Jennings said that the only thing the Falcons are worried about is making sure they have depth on the sidelines.

"Our numbers are dwindling and if someone turns out sick or unable to go, we may risk playing short of a full line-up," Jennings said.

Despite those concerns, Lemm said that the Falcons are ready and excited to take on the Redhawks and that the win would secure them a likely spot in playoffs.

"We are pretty confident we will beat SU," Lemm said.