The Mystic Social Side started straggling in to Newport on Saturday morning, only to discover that they had the dewbreaker match against a prepared URI. At kickoff, the Mystics only had six men present, so pulled in a player to fill out their roster. Despite this inauspicious start, and a lack of subs, the Mystics pulled off a 17-12 win to get off to a winning start.
After the rocky start to the day, the young college players were joined by some slower-moving veterans to weigh in with their experience and bolster the numbers. Kyle Winter and Lenny Whitted really brought some thunder into the Mystics’ second match against a very shaky Salve side, giving their team mates the room to run in a number of tries. Tom Thekaekera led the charge with two tries, with John Landers, Zack Burns, and Jalil Oates contributing one apiece. The Mystics took the match 31-12, and earned themselves an automatic quarterfinal berth.
The Mystics came up against a determined Cape Cod side in the quarterfinals. The match was a gruelling, physical affair, and Cape Cod managed to take a two try lead with a minute and a half left to play. The Mystics rose to the occasion, and punched in a try to make it 19-24 to the Cape Codders. They took it one step further and scored a second try as time expired to tie it up at 24-24. Dave Chinappi made no mistake with the conversion, and gave the Mystics a hard-fought 26-24 win and a spot in the semifinals.
The Mystics finally ran out of steam against the Wasps in the semis, losing 7-22, bringing to a close a great day of Mystic rugby.
