After a long winter hiatus, the Bowling Green Rugby team was back in action this weekend, throttling Maryland 62-5 and 45-7 while playing to a 19-19 tie with powerful Navy. Although the stalemate with the Midshipmen was the first blemish on BG’s previously undefeated A-squad, there were few voices of concern to be found among the Falcons. ‘Even though it [the Navy game] was a tie, as far as I’m concerned it was a victory for us,’ said club director Roger Mazzarella. ‘That was first time we have even been outside since November and they [Navy] were already playing their fourth game of the spring.’ The Falcons went into the weekend without the services of All-American’s Rich Hines (still waiting for his broken leg to heal) and Nick Viviani (out for the rest of the year with ACL surgery), however early on against the Midshipmen it looked as though they had picked right up where they left off in the fall.’ BG wasted no time in opening up a 12-0 first half lead on the strength of tries from Rocco Mauer and Ross Barett. Navy responded late in the first half with a try of their own which cut the deficit to 12-7 at the half. Navy continued that late momentum into the second half with Tim Magnusson and Matt Hartsog each touched down for a try as the Midshipmen moved ahead 19-12. However, just when it appeared that the Falcons would go down in defeat for the first time this season, Justin Rutledge rode to the rescue, barreling through the Navy defense with a two minutes left for a try. A perfect conversion by Dan Brandenstein knotted the score at 19, which is where it stayed. ‘Bowling Green is a good team,’ Navy coach Mike Flanagan was quoted as saying after the game. ‘They come out hard, they have a good scrum, play good team defense and don’t make a lot of mistakes. The Falcons had a much easier time of it with their other foes, the University of Maryland Terrapins, steamrolling their hosts in both games of a two game set. Leading the way for BG was Dominic Mauer, who manhandled the Maryland defense for one try in the first game and an astounding five in the second. ‘Dominic has shown that he has a nose for the goal line,’ said coach Tony Mazzarella. Also joining in on the action were Eric Nutter, Dan Brandenstein, Kyle Bonek, and Scott Wallace; all of whom scored tries in the first match. Andy Kientzy and Andrew Batt each contributed tries to the second match, while Jeremy Hale booted three conversions and Mitch Albers totaled two. The Falcons, who are now ranked twelfth in the nation, will continue their southern swing the next two weekends when they travel to Georgia Tech and Clemson.