This past Saturday at Pine Banks Park, Mystic River Rugby Club came away with two lopsided victories. The first game of the day was between Mystic’s Division 2 Barbarians and Amoskeag RFC in a NERFU league match. The Barbarians came away victorious, winning the game 73-24. After the victory, Mystic River’s Division 1 side hosted its first ever ARP match at Pine Banks and shut out Boston RFC, 86-0.
The first game of the day started off with Division 2 Mystic Barbarians hosting Amoskeag. This was an important match for the Barbarians, since they will face Worcester after a two-week bye for a highly-anticipated NERFU contest. Keeping this in mind, the D2 squad came out strong against Amoskeag, putting up 6 tries in the first half of the match and leading 42-0 at half. The Barbarians looked discombobulated in the opening minutes of the second half, allowing two unanswered tries. However, the Barbarians regained their composure and scored five more tries in the second half, ultimately winning the match, 73-24.
The Division 2 try scorers were: wing Atoa Ripley (2), flyhalf Steve Diamantopoulos, scrumhalf Adam Tafau (2), hooker Dana Corcoran, center Dean Nemeroff (2), wing Phil Baker-Coe, lock Rob Brennan, and fullback Sean Sawyer. Diamantopoulous went 9 of 11 on the day converting the tries.
In a shortened B-side match, Mystic River defeated Amoskeag 19-5 thanks to a hat trick of tries from 8-man Dylan Cyr.
In the first ever ARP match at Pine Banks, D1 picked up right where their D2 teammates left off. Despite a quick yellow card for Mystic River, they scored early when center John Sullivan dotted down a try. From this point on, the Monsters of Malden never looked back. At the conclusion of the first half, Mystic River had scored six tries, coming from Sullivan, 8-man Sean Rafferty, center Alatasi Tupou, wing Vini Daley, and wing Chris Frazier. At the break, Mystic River led Boston RFC 31-0 and showed no signs of slowing down.
The second half is where Mystic River took control and put up eight more tries, all while holding strong on defense. Try scorers were fullback Nick Fujiwara (2), center Jon Sullivan (2), wing Atoa Ripley (2), center Alatasi Tupou, flanker Thomas Thekaekara, and flanker Jon Kokinda. Tupou was able to slot the first six conversions and scrumhalf Adnan Kawuma slotted the final two conversions of the match.
Head Coach Josh Smith noted the team’s strong system play and their response after dropping a tough match last week to Old Blue. Coach Smith also recognized Sullivan’s strong running in the backline and lock Patsy Lynch’s grunt work in the forward pack. Additionally, Nick Fujiwara touched down two tries in his first career D1 start, and Atoa Ripley scored four tries on the day, between both D1 and D2.
All in all, Mystic River scored 28 tries on the day and will look to use this as momentum for the remainder of the lengthy season. At 2:00PM on Saturday, Mystic’s D1 side hosts the Boston Irish Wolfhounds in a rivalry match. The Boys in Blue will look for another win after defeating the Wolfhounds 46-13 in the spring season. Prior to the match, there will be an Old Boys game, kicking off at NOON. This Saturday is shaping up to be another great day for Mystic River Rugby!
Upcoming Schedule
10/1 (SAT) 12:00pm – Old Boys vs. BIW
10/1 (SAT) 2:00pm – D1/ARP vs. BIW
10/8 (SAT) 1:00pm – D1/ARP vs. NYAC
Thank you to all our sponsors and Mystic Nation for your unwavering support!
GO BLUE !!