The Brandeis men's rugby club put up some impressive numbers this regular season: a 4-1 record, a 116-0 unscored upon streak and the No. 1 seed for the New England Rugby Football Union playoffs. But in the end, the number that mattered most was two. The Judges finished second in the NERFU playoffs following a 13-5 loss to Maine Maritime College at Southern Vermont College in Bennington, Vt. on Sunday.

The Mariners, who Brandeis defeated 17-12 earlier in the season, came out firing in the first half, running up a 13-0 lead on two penalty kicks and a tri. This would be all the scoring they would get, but it was also all they needed. While Brandeis did shut out the Mariners in the second half, they were simply unable to come back due to a severely depleted roster.

Three starters, Alex Goldstein '06, Eli Wolfhagen '05 and Noah Foster '07 were unable to play in the finals, meaning three Brandeis players were forced into positions that they had never played. To make matters worse, John Sherman '05 did not return to the game for the second half after sustaining a neck injury.

"We lost two very effective players on Saturday," Coach John Dalton said. "We're not so deep that we can afford to lose two quality players and still compete at the same level. Still, we do have players like Josh Sugarman ['05], who can raise his game and carry this team."

Despite the injuries, the Judges did make some outstanding plays. Following Dalton's halftime pep talk, the Judges made their only score of the game after Larry Bastenev '07 scored a tri midway through the second half following a well-executed series of four passes. But in the end, it was of little consolation.

"Sunday was a disapointment," Dalton said. "We came out flat, gifted them 13 points and were always playing catch-up. In the immediate aftermath, people were very disapointed, but we've had a great season, beating every team we played at some stage. A really old sports saying is that you have to lose a final to win one, and we'll be back."

The Judges had defeated their rivals from Nichols College 22-12 in the semifinals on Saturday to earn a spot in the finals. This game was a rematch of the Judges' only regular season loss, a 12-5 home defeat in which the play was rough and tempers were short after the game. This victory was meaningful not only because it avenged the previous loss, but because it was a triumph over a larger and faster team.

With the home team from Southern Vermont cheering the Judges on, Brandeis soundly defeated Nichols with a second half surge that featured tries from Nick Lata '05, Ben "Animal" Liebowitz '05 and Sugarman as Brandeis outscored Nichols 19-0 in the second half.

"We played really well in the second half on Saturday, the best performance of the year, scoring 22 unanswered points," Dalton said. "We played smart, hard and fast rugby that really left [Nichols] with no answers."

But the first half was a completely different story as Nichols used its size and speed to take a 12-3 lead, scoring its second and final tri of the game with just seconds left in the half. But Dalton rallied his troops just as he would in the finals with an inspiring pep talk.

Following this second place showing in the NERFU playoffs, the Judges were asked to move up from Division Four to Division Three for next season. The team would very much like to do so, but will need some support from the administration and must also take into account that seven seniors will be lost to graduation.

"I'm sure there are more male rugby players in Brandeis than either baseball or soccer players, yet we only get one hundreth of their funding, if that," Dalton said.

"As a club it is difficult to function if you cannot get a place to practice," Dalton said. "We can't even get uniforms or equipment without a substantial outlay on the part of the players. To compete at Divsion III level we would need to attract better athletes. To attract better athletes we would need to be able to offer them something more than 'practice cancelled due to ultimate frisbee game' and 'welcome to the team, we need $50 to cover the cost of your uniform,'".