The Harvard rugby club was knocked off by an opportunistic Boston College squad, 32-6, Saturday at BC in front of 100 spectators.

The contest matched two unbeaten New England teams vying for the number three seed in the upcoming New England Championships.

BC captured the seed with the victory and is seeded behind Dartmouth and Brown, while Harvard must now settle for the tournament's fifth seed.

On a day in which Harvard ruggers repeatedly drove for yardage but came up short, one play typified the Crimson frustration.

With time running out in the first half, Harvard's Nathan Koenig successfully converted a penalty kick which would have cut the Eagle lead to 12-9.

However, a linesman made the wrong signal to nullify the kick, and Harvard once again trailed, 12-6.

"It took a bit out of us," Co-Captain Jon Israel said. "We had a chance to pull within three, and it could have given us a boost."

Everything went downhill in the second half as BC beat Harvard into submission, ruthlessly running off 20 unanswered points.

"We are very disappointed," Coach Martyn Kingston said. "We had so many chances."

Harvard next sees action Saturday, when it visits Dartmouth.

Radcliffe Rugby

The Radcliffe rugby club opened its season over the weekend by dropping two tightly-fought contests to Boston City Clubs.

Defense highlighted the Beantown B-side's 8-0 win over Radcliffe Saturday.

Sunday's contest saw the women lose to Valley in overtime, 8-4.

Radcliffe Crew

The Radcliffe novice crew made a fair showing in the Mount Holyoke regatta Saturday, placing boats 12th and 13th in a field of 19 entries in the first competition of the season.

The match consisted of two 1500-meter races--a time trial in the morning and a head-to-head match in the afternoon.

"We did really well considering the groups of eights only practiced together for three days," novice Coach Holly Hatton said. "Everything went very smoothly. Logistically it was the best day I had."

For most of the novice rowers, this regatta provided them with their first taste of competitive rowing.

"Overall I'm very happy with our performance," coxswain Linda Sakimura said. "For our first time out, I think we did well."

Cycling

The Harvard cycling club attended its one and only collegiate tournament of the fall over the weekend, and came away with a surprising second-place finish at the Yale Cycling Race in New Haven.