Recap: May Madness Nationals
New Orleans, LA: The Bryant University Men's Rugby team received an "at-large" bid to compete in the May Madness 7's Collegaiate National Championship. This was the first time in program history the Men's team qualified for Nationals.
Saturday: Pool Play
Hofstra- Lost by a try on the very last play on the game. The Bulldogs battled all morning, and played great defense all around and unselfish offense. Backed to our own 20 on defense at the end, rising Junior Lucas Sarkar makes a great play jumping the pass but called offsides.
Score: 28-21 Hofstra
Tries: Galligan (2), Porcaro
Franciscan- Tough game for the boys. Came out hot with rising sophomore Joey Belsanti bringing opening kick back to their 22-meter line. Hard run and pass by Nolan McLaney and Galligan scores off a penalty from 5 out. Franciscan comes back and scores two quick ones. Defense hangs in but generally unable to come back from big first half deficit.
Score: 31-12 Franciscan
Tries: Galligan (2)
Virginia Military Institute- Great bounce back win against the projected #1 team in the pool. Played great defense and spread the ball on offense. Got everyone involved, played physical, and had great communication. Overall dominant performance that was huge for point differential in seeding.
Score: 31-7 Bryant
Tries: Galligan, Belsanti, Mercier, Tucci, waiting to hear who the 5th scorer was
Team finished 17th overall seed, putting us 1st in the lower bracket for Sunday.
Colby- Tough loss to end the tournament. Came out great against Colby, playing high pressure defense off the kick to get an early try off a turnover for Galligan. Kept up pressure to turn the ball over and score 2 more going up 17-0. Great play by rising sophomore Xander Honor to run down a breakaway and hit the player out of bounds to save a try before halftime. Brutal second half, penalties kill us and we give up 3 tries to lose by a extra point on a last-play try.
Score: 19-17 Colby
Tries: Galligan (2), Honor
Overall tough tournament for the team but a great learning experience for an extremely young team. All players will be returning for a fall season where we look to make a run in the CCRC. Only 1 player from nationals' roster will be graduate before next spring. Nationals team included 9 underclassmen, 5 to be seniors, and 1 to be grad-student. Also have a great crop of recruits with 3 experienced high-schoolers and a transfer.
Men's Rugby is excited for next year having experienced leadership and young talent and hope to make some noise in the fall. Shout out to coach Boulet, team manager (assistant coach) Chip Broderick, and athletic trainer Mark Levesque.