BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's rugby team opened up the first two weeks of the 2014 season with two Colonial Coast Rugby Conference (CCRC) matches. In their home opener on September 14th the Gulls took a tough 10-52 loss to Plymouth State. The following weekend on September 20th the Blue and Green earned their first victory of the season as they took Wheaton in a 12-5 decision. Endicott now sits at 1-1 (1-1 CCRC) on the season.
The Gulls will play next on Sunday, September 28th as they host conference opponent, Roger Williams for a 3:00 p.m. matchup at Endicott Stadium.
In the season opener against Plymouth State the Blue and Green battled hard for the entire match. One of the team's top returners, senior Pat Cormier (Portland, Maine), earned the first points for the Gulls after he picked off the scrum position and went for the early try. Following Cormier was senior Joe Desjardins (North Woodstock, N.H.) who was playing the fly half position when he held the ball and pushed through off a penalty to cross the try line.
In the first win of the season over Wheaton, Cormier and Desjardins came up big again as they each earned points in the match. The Gulls took an early 7-0 lead after Cormier punched through on a penalty play following a conversion kick by Desjardins.
The Gulls held the lead for most of the game holding Wheaton on several tries. With three minutes to go in injury time Wheaton finally broke through but missed the kick to keep the Gulls with a 7-5 lead. In the final minutes junior Matt Camilleri (Chester, Conn.) broke loose to tally the final insurance points to lift the Blue and Green to a 12-5 victory.
Coach Ryman was very pleased with the team's performance stating, "Our hard work from a small squad, both in size and in numbers, really paid off. We have much more work to do but I am proud of how the team played."
Cormier and Desjardins are both coming off a strong season last year where Cormier tallied 10 points followed by five points from Desjardins.
