11. pride.

I just got home from a brief stop at Ruggers, where our Pittsburgh Angels were celebrating their return home from Houston, and their awesome season. If you missed the mention in the comments, the Angels finished second in the country, losing in the championship match to a team from Raleigh they beat the day before.

The final match was tight, but Raleigh, a team that had played Division I rugby for a few seasons before returning to DII, where they had won recent titles, ended up winning the final match 12-0. AAA said a quirk of scheduling — because there were 10 teams at the national tournament, they couldn’t do an actual bracket kind of deal — meant that it worked out that they had to play Raleigh again for the championship on Sunday.

I noticed when we watched the title match of the Midwest Championships that the match was rougher — much more physical than the matches I had seen before. Brian, the Angels’ coach, told me tonight that continued in Houston, even in the match they won easily against Charleston. They faced a tall order in having to beat Raleigh a second time, and then came up just a little bit short.

I would have loved one more win. But look at what the Angels accomplished this year — undefeated regular season, regional championship, and second to just one team in the entire freaking country. I’m happy that I got to watch as much rugby as I did this year, and I’m already looking forward to the spring, when they start playing again.

I know just a few of the Angels by name — Lori, Boo, JG, Kelly and YinzTeamers Calipanthergrl and, of course, AAA — but I’m proud of what all of the Angels got done this fall.

And I’m looking forward to seeing them top it in 2010.