NOLA Gold Blank Stars

NOLA Gold Rugby vs. Stars Rugby XVs, Pontchartrain Po-boy Rugby vs. Crescent City Blues & NOLA Gold U19s Academy vs. Stars U19s

The featured match of the day on December 15 at Gold Stadium was NOLA Gold Rugby Club against Stars Rugby XV. NOLA Gold dominated territory and possession in winning 113-0. The matches were streamed by Gift-time Rugby Network.

Preceding the featured match, NOLA Gold Academy U19s defeated Stars U19s 36-15. In the Robert Markel Cup, Pontchartrain Po-boy Rugby claimed back-to-back Cups with a 42-32 victory over Crescent City Blues.

Pontchartrain Po-Boy Rugby 2018 Robert Merkel Cup Champions

NOLA Gold vs Stars XV Recap

NOLA Gold jumped out to a 45-0 lead at the break and finished with a 113-0 win over Stars Rugby XVs. NOLA Gold fielded a team comprised of seasoned veterans with a number of their younger players. Stars Rugby had ten Collegiate players on their squad.

NOLA Gold began their prolific scoring in the second minute as an offload from JP Eloff sprung Michael Baska for a try to lead 5-0. A few minutes later, Holden Youngert added another after a breakdown with Eloff converting for a 12-0 lead.

The Stars Rugby held up a player in-goal, but that was short-lived as Kevin Sullivan barrelled in for a try for a 17-0 lead. An offload by Taylor Howden then resulted in a JoJo Tikoisuva try and an Eloff conversion, 22-0.

Zach Stryffeler, who may split his time between flanker and center this season, was set up by Tristan Blewett and scored a try with Eloff again converting. Howden and Malcom May added two more with Eloff successful on both for a 45-0 lead at the break.

The second half was more of the same, as JP Eloff scored off a Youngert box kick that bounced into his hands. Eloff then converted to lead 52-0. Michael Baska and Tristan Blewett added two more with Eloff converting pushing the lead to 66-0.

JoJo Tikoisuva added his second try and Shawn Riley scored his first and after Eloff’s conversion, the score was 80-0. The restart then went wide to Tikoisuva and was finished by Stryffeler for his second try. Howden then setup flanker Daniel Logan for his first try, with Eloff converting both, 94-0.

NOLA Gold added three more tries by Bobby Johns, Cam Falcon, and Shawn Riley with Eloff converting the first two for a 113-0 win over Stars Rugby XV.

NOLA Gold Rugby Club showed how difficult that it is for a representative side to play a professional one. In the coming weeks, NOLA Gold will integrate more of its veterans into the squad. The team will need the depth of some of its Academy players during the 16 games season, with some players missing matches due to internationals.

Following the match, JP Aguirre, a Collegiate All-American from Argentina at Lindenwood University, was the Stars Man of the Match. Francis Dougherty and Chase Jollie played well in the front row, David Beach controlled the Stars lineouts, Tarik James and Drew Busbee were scrappy at scrumhalf, Aguirre directed the attack and Sean Hunt was an impact player at center.

Liz Entwhistle excellent commentary and the video by Gift-Time Rugby Network allowed many viewers to see the teams in action.

NOLA Gold U19 Coach Comments

“The Game was an enormous success and great occasion – these kids are a part of history now. It took a while to get going, we saw a lot of penalties against us early on as Stars applied pressure both territorially and tactically. Our boys showed some a bit of resilience to adapt to that pressure and when that happened we were able to have some fun. That’s what it’s about, having fun with your mates out there.” – Coach Taylor Howden

Squads

NOLA Gold Roster: 1 Kevin Sullivan 2 Matt Harmon 3 Ben Tarr (C) 4 William Waguespack 5 Billy Stewart 6 Zack Stryffeler 7 John Sullivan 8 Malcolm May 9 Holden Yungert 10 JP Eloff (VC) 11 Michael Baska 12 Taylor Howden 13 Tristan Blewett 14 JoJo Tikoisuva 15 Nick Feakes 16 Amro Gouda 17 Cam Falcon 18 Mason Briant 19 Todd Dupre 20 Daniel Logan 21 Shawn Riley 22 Bobby Johns 23 Michael Houston (Preview Article)

Stars Rugby XVs Men’s Roster:

JP Aguirre – flyhalf – Lindenwood University, St Charles, Missouri
*David Beach – second row – Notre Dame College, Euclid, Ohio
*Todd Becker – prop – Bremer County Bucks, Waverly, Iowa
*Carter Beelman – fullback/wing – Metropolis Rugby Club, Minneapolis, Minnesota
*Drew Binegar – flyhalf/fullback – Peoria Pigs/USAF 7s, Peoria, Illinois
*Rico Blackman – prop – Notre Dame College, Euclid, Ohio
*Jonathan Blalock – flanker/hooker – Birmingham Vulcans, Birmingham, Alabama
*Drew Busbee – scrumhalf/flyhalf/flanker – Belmont Shore Rugby/USAF 7s – Los Angeles, California
*Chris Caci – center – Fox Valley Maori – St Charles, Illinois
*Sam Chaney – prop – Little Rock Stormers, Little Rock, Arkansas
Aaron Cummings – flanker/scrumhalf – Davenport University, Grand Rapids, Michigan
*Francis Dougherty – prop – Old Blue of New York, New York, New York
*Niko Felice – second row/flanker – Bremer County Bucks, Waverly, Iowa
*Austin Fernandez – wing/center – Tampa Krewe, Tampa Florida
Pat Forde – flanker/8 – Eckerd College, St Petersburg, Florida
*Casey Hansen – center – Bremer County Bucks, Waverly, Iowa
*Sean Hunt – flanker/8 – Atlanta Old White/USA Rugby League, Atlanta, Georgia
*Tarik James – scrumhalf – Notre Dame College, Euclid, Ohio
*Chase Jollie – hooker – Bethel College, South Bend, Indiana
*Chance Kalua-Fuimaono – Seattle Saracens, Seattle, Washington
*Dontae Lawrence – fullback/wing – Savannah Shamrocks, Savannah, Georgia
*Rob McAloney – 8/flanker – Principia College, Elsah, Illinois
*Trevor Rothhaas – flanker – Davenport University, Grand Rapids, Michigan
*Tim Stefczak – second row – Metropolis Rugby Club, Minneapolis, Minnesota
HEAD COACH: Peter Baggetta, Washington DC
DIRECTOR: Liz Entwhistle, Chicago, Illinois
ATC: Cris Valor, Baylor Scott & White, Texas
*indicates veteran of previous Stars tours

NOLA Gold Academy U19s: 1 Reece Guidry 2 Pat Gallagher 3 Brendan Weaver 4 Will Shropshire 5 Langston Goldenberg 6 Chuck Lobrano 7 Cameron Duplantier 8 David Childs 9 Drake Roethele 10 Gabe Massey 11 Hayden Courtado 12 James Williams 13 Zavier Triplett 14 Justin Scott 15 William Newell 16 Eddie Lemus 17 Isaac Weaver 18 Moises Chamele 19 Johny Tindall 20 Case Ellis 21 jack Gab 22 Jack Diliberto 23 Tony Caesar

Stars Rugby XVs U19 Men’s Roster:

Jabari Agyemann – hooker – Maryland Exiles, Baltimore, Maryland
Nathan Bain – flanker/8 – Rochester Brotherhood, Rochester, Minnesota
Chris Berry – flanker/8 – St John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota
Zachary Bletsch – scrumhalf – Rochester Brotherhood, Rochester, Minnesota
Evan Conlon – flyhalf/scrumhalf – Lindenwood University, St Charles, Missouri
Cameron Crane – second row – Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Arkansas
Alex Dine – center/wing – Cleveland Crusaders, Cleveland, Ohio
Andrew Fickenscher – hooker – West End Rugby, Falls Church, Virginia
Antonio Gonzalez – center – Middleton Area Rugby Club, Middleton, Wisconsin
James Hall – flanker/second row – University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
Tyler Hastings – second row – Muskego Rugby, Muskego, Wisconsin
Connor Hope-Ross – scrumhalf – Archbishop Spaulding, Severn, Maryland
Jackson Jeffrey – wing – University of Alabama Birmingham/Birmingham Vulcans U19, Birmingham, Alabama
*Aaron Krah – wing – Iowa Central Community College/Bremer County Bucks, Des Moines, Iowa
Collin Lagat – flyhalf/center – Allen Rugby Club, Allen, Texas
Ben Litchfield – wing/center – Middleton Area Rugby Club, Middleton, Wisconsin
Sumer Maini – hooker/flanker – Morris Rugby Club, Morris, New Jersey
Alex Parrish – prop/second row – Principia College, Elsa, Illinois
Jose Pilco – center – University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
Lane Rouse – prop – Cy-Fair HS Warrior Rugby, Cypress, Texas
Dylan Sacks – flanker – Maryland Exiles, Baltimore, Maryland
Ben Schultz – wing – Ardrey Kell High School, Charlotte, North Carolina
Joseph Vitolio – prop – Diamondbacks Rugby/Maryland Exiles, Silver Spring, Maryland
HEAD COACH: Josh Sutcliffe, Palo Alto, California
DIRECTOR: Liz Entwhistle, Chicago, Illinois
ATC: Cris Valor, Baylor Scott & White, Texas
*indicates veteran of previous Stars tours

Robert Markel Cup Squads

Pontchartrain Po-Boy Rugby: 1. James “Doc” Irey 2. Thomas Savoie 3. Jimmy Rehkopf 4. Gordon Cole 5. Vincent Duhe 6. Chris Andrade 7. Joe Rolf 8. Gio Lapp 9. David Buckingham (Captain) 10. Jeff Reuther (Coach) 11. Brett Bordelon 12. Christian Norton 13. Jayson DeLeaumont 14. Matt Tesvich 15. Brad Guarisco 16. John Unsworth 17. Adam Massey 18. Michael Norton 19. Matt Oertling 20. Travis Avery 21. Jarrett Levesh 22. Gary Giepert 23. Geoff Ormsby 24. Garrick Huhner 25. Ross Bellaci

Crescent City Blues: 1 Kwame Juakali 2 Michael “Sully” Danon 3 Carlos Rosa 4 Zac Creel 5 Cal Creel 6 JC Penney 7 Jeffrey Levasur 8 Sean Gallagher
9 Jeryet Bourg 10 Reece Vincent (c) 11 Matthew Sevin 12 Sean McFettridge
13 Nicholas Sevin 14 Ritchie Northshore 15 Brian Sevin 16 Danny Reed
17 Adam Kelley 18 Todd Mathieu 19 Brian Bradshaw 20 Michael Gremillion 21 Matthew Fischer 22 Pablo Sieres 23 Pablo Guth 24 James Fox 25 Dmitriy Prytkin 26 Emmanuel Lucas