Saint Joseph’s Hawks Undefeated in Division
Dan Yarusso, head coach of the Saint Joseph’s University Hawks Rugby team recapped the season.
The Hawks have finished MARC D1AA divisional play undefeated with the big win over the Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Saturday. The Hawks are now 3-0 and will host Villanova on October 28th for the first round of the Conference playoffs. In addition, captain Jimmy Wolfer (’17) hit a major milestone scoring his 1,000th career point in the match.
Hawks Rugby First Half
In the Varsity match, the Hawks got on the board first in front of a lively crowd. IUP conceded a penalty in striking distance for the boot of Wolfer. Wolfer would make the penalty kick to bring his career point total to 999 and give the Hawks an early 3-0 lead. IUP would answer back after the Hawks conceded a few penalties that pinned the Hawks deep in their own territory. With a line break, IUP was able to sneak in for a try to take a 7-3 lead. The Hawks would answer right back when off a penalty deep in IUP territory, Wolfer would quick tap and spin the ball wide to Aram Keshgegian (’18) who would barrel in the corner for the score. Wolfer lined up for the conversion but missed, keeping the fans in suspense for his 1,000 points and giving the Hawks a narrow 8-7 lead. However, the Hawks would score again in a similar fashion when off a quick tap penalty, Mickey Chapple (’18) dove in on the outside for another Hawks score. Another difficult kick from the corner but Wolfer wouldn’t keep the fans or the record books waiting. The conversion was good and Wolfer had passed the 1,000 career point threshold! The first half would continue with IUP and the Hawks exchanging scores. At halftime, the score was 29-19 in favor of the Hawks.
Hawks Rugby Second Half
In the second half, Thomas Cuddihy (’18), who had three scores in the match, chip kicked a low errant pass that IUP players bobbled down the field. He was then able to recollect the loose ball and race in for the score. From there, the Hawks really got going with scores from Matt Lydon (’20), Collin Johnson (’19), two from Mike Hoffman (’19), and Andrew Sullivan (’20). At the final whistle, the Hawks would win 76-19.
Immediately following the Varsity match, the JV team played IUP. The visitors would pressure the Hawks early and get the first points on the board for an early 7-0 lead. The Hawks would settle down and find their groove as Mark Dombroski (’21) would touch down the first Hawks try in the corner with Finn Tuite (’19) notching the conversion. Later in the half, Collin Johnson would score to extend the Hawks halftime lead 12-7. In the second half, the Hawks would feed of big runs from Kyle D’Angelo (’19) and Andrew Sullivan (’20). Dombroski would find the try zone again as would Tuite who extended the Hawks lead 22-7. Griffin McCormick (’19) would score the last Hawks try when D’Angelo scooped up a loose ball, drew in a few defenders, then offloaded to McCormick who raced it into the corner of the try zone to some of his adoring fans. At the final whistle, the Hawks would win 27-7.
Hawks Rugby JV & Futures
The Varsity team will have a bit of break this weekend with the JV team traveling to the University of Delaware on Friday and Villanova on Saturday. The Future’s team will host DeSales University at 1 PM on Sweeney. And be sure to come out to the first round of the MARC D1AA playoffs on October 28th when the Hawks take on Villanova! Go Hawks!!!
