Despite that mild satisfaction, Haberstroh insisted the Owls had trained hard enough and long enough to produce a better showing.
"We didn't really play as well as we would have liked," he said, " . . . but we will get back at it tomorrow."
Owls head coach John Sciotto agreed, implying that they let the Wisconsin game slip away and were a couple of bounces from being right in the other two games.
"It went better than last year," Sciotto said.
Temple's day began against Wisconsin at 9:11 a.m. In a hard-hitting match, the Owls knotted the score late in the first half and seized control in the second when an Alex Schmucker try with three minutes left gave them a 12-5 lead. But missed tackles and sloppy play by the Owls allowed the Badgers' Jordi Heginbottom to break free and tie the score.
Temple was less competitive in the later games, dropping decisions to Life University and Penn State, 33-7 and 36-7, respectively.
Each time Temple seemed on the brink of getting back in the games, a blunder would lead directly to points for the opposition.
"The first game, we were a little tight and let Wisconsin come back on us," Sciotto said. "Everything else was mistakes we made, unforced errors that allowed the other teams to capitalize."
Temple missed Sunday's championship bracket and will compete in the consolation round.
The Owls weren't lacking fan support, even for an early morning kickoff. The Temple faithful stormed through the soccer stadium gates, draped in cherry and white and bearing signs and flags.
"Our fans are crazy," Haberstroh said.
For Sciotto, who played college rugby himself at Penn State and has been guiding the burgeoning program for five years, it is the alumni support that is most striking.
"That makes me proud because a lot of them still want to be part of the program," he said. "That is probably the biggest thing. We preach the whole Temple-rugby-family thing, and it extends to the fans as well."
Top squads prevail
Heavy favorites Dartmouth, California, and Arizona came away with three wins each Saturday and look to be the class of the field. Life University, based in Marietta, Ga., also went undefeated on the day.
Dartmouth is the tournament's defending champion and California finished as runnerup in 2010. Arizona is led by three-time all-American Peter Tibiero, who many believe is the best sevens player in the country.
Extended relationship
NBC Sports and USA Sevens came to an agreement on Friday night with PPL Park to extend their relationship through 2014, making the Chester venue the home of the collegiate rugby championship for two more years.
Jon Miller, the president of programming for NBC Sports, said the decision to continue was not difficult.
"This has become, in the mind of college rugby players and followers, the national championship," Miller said. "We want a following in this venue like Omaha has for the [college baseball World Series]. We want Philly to be the permanent home of the collegiate rugby championship."
Miller added that the tournament's competition committee was considering adding more teams to the field in future years as well as extending the event to three days.
