Saint Joseph’s Men’s Rugby Beats Millerville on Seniors Day

The men’s team won their first game of the 2016 Keystone Rugby Conference Fall 15’s season against Millersville University.  Being that it was the University Alumni and Parent weekend, it was a busy day for the Hawks. In the morning over 25 players joined “This is the Magis” team on Saturday morning to walk/run the Kinney Center 5K.  There was also a good parent and alumni turn out at the “Taste of Philadelphia” which lead up to the game. Just prior to kick off the, University recognized all the seniors on the team. They were Rob Kufcynski, Thomas Lafferty, Greg McTiernan, Job Neiman, Matt Raimondo, Ryan Stickno, Michael Weber, Jimmy Wolfer, Justin Young, and Matt Zebrowski.

In the first half, it was the seniors that showed up in a big way.  Wolfer pinned Millersville deep in their own end with a penalty kick for touch and the forwards made quick work mauling their way close to the try line before Weber broke off and  punched his way in for the first score.  The score was followed up by a try from McTiernan. After the ball was spun out wide from a scrum, McTiernan was able to slip through the defensive line and then use his speed to carry him the remainder of the way.  Millersville would answer back as one of their players split the centers and dashed in for a score.  But the Hawks would respond when Lafferty stripped the ball from a Millersville player on the ensuing kickoff.  Several phases would follow and eventually the ball found its way into the hands of George Harris (’18) who would dot it down in the corner.  McTiernan would then play a big role in the next two trys, setting up Wolfer first and then Nieman to tack on two more scores for the Hawks.  And in the closing minute of the half, it was Kufcynski who barreled through  a defender in the corner of the try zone to put one more in for the Hawks before halftime.

In the second half, the Hawks continued to cross over the try line.  Arguably the nicest score of the game came when Weber was able to poach the ball 5M from the Hawks goal line and then spin it wide to the backs. The ball was quickly advanced forwarded and worked it’s way through several players before making its way into Pat Ryan’s (’18) hands who took it the rest of the way.  At the final whistle, the Hawks would win by a large margin but credit to Millersville who battled the full 80 minutes.

A special thanks goes out to all the parents and alumni that came back to cheer on the team. You all rock and we look forward to seeing you at the next one!!! The Hawks have a double header weekend as they will be sending one team to Lock Haven University for a Conference match and one team to the University of Scranton for a non-conference match on October 1st.   And Hawks Rugby would like to thank Brendan Triplett of This Is American Rugby News for coming out and covering the match and providing YouTube access of the game.  Follow Brendan on twitter @brendanusarugby.