Atlantic North Sees Offensive Explosions
Men’s Division I: American Rugby Premiership:
Another week and another close loss for New York Athletic, who fell to the Life Running Eagles, 31-26. Life was in the lead for entirety of the match, but a late flurry of tries to NYAC brought them within striking distance. However, it was too late, the Running Eagles were able to hold on. Old Blue of New York didn’t encounter any issues against Mystic River. It was one way traffic the whole game as Old Blue won, 52-14. For Old Blue, U.S Eagles, Cam Dolan and Dylan Fawsitt both scored two tries on the day, as did their winger, Derek Lipscomb.
Eastern Women’s Division I:
In the first match of the newly formed Eastern Women’s Division I competition, the Albany Sirens took on Philadelphia Rugby. What started as a tightly contested game, with teams were tied at five 50 minutes into the game, quickly devolved into a one-sided affair. Philadelphia scored three tries in the final fifteen minutes to win, 31-5. Lucy Dawson led the way for Philadelphia with two tries.
Men’s Division II:
Empire-New Jersey:
Union County Mudturtles cemented their place atop of the New Jersey lader with another dominant display against Monmouth Rugby, 42-27. Led by Michael Erlich, the Mudturtles were able to overcome an early deficit and record their third consecutive victory. Morris Rugby enjoyed a strong showing against Montclair’s Norsemen. After dropping their first game of the season, Morris was able to rebound and secure the 45-24 victory. Princeton Athletic survived a close encounter against the Bayonne Bombers, 19-12.
Empire- New York City:
Old Blue of New York made it two from two, for the club, on the weekend when their D2 side beat the Village Lions in a close 38-31 victory. New Haven Old Black won their first game of the year against New York Rugby, 26-22. Fairfield moved to the top of the ladder, after recording their second consecutive bonus point victory. This time it was against White Plains Rugby, 45-0.
New England:
New England saw a string of blowouts this weekend, including: Newport over Amoskeag 71-14, Boston Irish Wolfhounds, 79-5, over Portland, Hartford Wanderers beating Albany Knickerbockers 70-5, and Mystic Barbarians holding off a testing Boston Rugby side, 43-29. The closest match of the weekend, was Worcester Rugby against the South Shore Anchors. The Anchors opened the game with a 16 point lead, which held true until the 51st minute. A Worcester try brought the game to within 11. It wasn’t until the 77th minute of the game when a Christopher Benoit try was converted by Greg Whelan that Worcester got their first and only lead of the game. Riding it out until the final whistle, 23-22.
Women’s Division II
Empire:
Brooklyn Rugby blanked Long Island Rugby on their way to a mammoth, 73-0, win. Margret Ewen managed to score a hat-trick within the first half an hour, she’d go on to score four in total. Morris Pride were able to make light work of Union County Rugby, knocking them off 60-5. The Rochester Renegades joined the others in the winners’ circle, beating Uticuse Hellbenders,49-25.
New England:
New England’s Women’s Division II competition saw a tie between Providence Rugby and Hartford Wild Roses, 10-10. It was a tense affair all the way through with Hartford knotting the game up with only two minutes left. Amoskeag, had a close match with North Shore Rugby but they were able to pull away towards the end. Portland got one over on Charles River Rats, 41-25. The biggest win of the weekend went to the Worcester Shamrocks who put 87 points on the Upper Valley Valkyries without conceding a point.
Men’s Division III
New Jersey/ Long Island:
Last year’s National Division III Runner-Up, Long Island Rugby, look well on their way to another championship performance, after notching a massive 93-3 win over Morris Rugby D3. In the other fixture, it was the Suffolk Bull Moose that pulled away from North Jersey Rugby, to the tune of 52-14.
New York City:
Old Maroon continued their winning ways with an impressive showing against the Rockaway Fishheads. Old Maroon won by a comfortable score line of 44-15. They were joined by the Gotham Knights who played a defensive masterclass against New York Rugby D3, hanging on 25-7.
New York/Connecticut:
White Plains Rugby D3 took over top position in the New York/Connecticut pool after their emphatic 52-20 win over the Fairfield Yankees D3. They were helped in their cause by Saratoga’s loss to Greenwich, 34-20.
Upstate:
Buffalo D3 looks like the team to beat in the Upstate Division. Their spot atop of the standings was cemented after an emphatic, 86-0, win over the Rochester Aardvarks. In just three weeks, Buffalo has accrued a positive 199 plus minus. Third time was the charm for the Southtowns Saxons, who won their first game of the season against the Binghamton Barbarians, 36-29. The Genesee Creamers have now made it two from three after their latest statement victory over South Buffalo Rugby D3, 57-12.
New England:
After two weeks there appear to be some strong contenders for the Men’s New England Division III title. Providence Rugby, Boston Maccabi and Charles River Rats, are all undefeated and have taken maximum points away from their fixtures. Boston Maccabi and Providence made easy work of their opponents, Boston Maccabi beating New London County 62-17 and providence winning against Old Gold Rugby 66-19. For Charles River, it was a closer affair, 33-28, against Mad River/Stowe Rugby but the net result was the same, 5 competition points. Elsewhere, MIT Rugby won by two points against North Shore Rugby, 36-34, to get their first win of the season. Freedom Rugby held of Burlington Rugby in a low scoring affair, 21-12; and The Springfield rifles rebounded from their first round loss to claim a, 26-13, win over Upper Valley Mountain Men.
