HAMILTON, NY – The Nazareth College Rugby team got off to a flying start Sunday in the Liberty Rugby Conference (LRC) Tournament at Colgate and earned a spot in the Plate Championship semifinals but a pair of late losses earned the Golden Flyers an 8th place finish in the Tournament.
Nazareth jumped out to an early lead and dominated Brockport in the opening match of the day as sophomore Tyreik Thomas and junior Khyree Poole each scored twice and the Golden Flyers led 24-0 in the first half.
Brockport managed a late try but Nazareth finished with a 24-5 win to start the tournament.
In game two, Nazareth had another early lead with a 10-0 lead against Syracuse. The Orangemen rallied for a pair of scores and escaped with a 10-10 tie. Junior Khalil Lynch had a powerful run to set up the first try as he passed to fellow junior Kyle Decker before Poole added a length of the field run for the second try and the early lead.
With a 1-1 record on the day, Nazareth faced a tough University of Connecticut team and the sloppy field conditions played a role in the first try as the Huskies took a 5-0 lead. Two more scores in the second half during a short snow squall led to a 15-0 win for Connecticut.
The 1-1-1 record earned Nazareth a second place finish in the pool play portion of the tournament as the Golden Flyers advanced to the Plate Championship round featuring the second-place finishers in each of the four pools.
Nazareth faced the University at Albany in the semifinal match and took an early lead as Decker raced in for the try and a 7-0 lead after a successful conversion kick by sophomore Patrick Notaro.
Albany pushed in for two second-half scores to take a 14-7 victory as Nazareth earned a spot in the 7th-8th place match against host Colgate.
In the final match, Colgate took an early lead but junior Nathan Burnett scored to trim the lead to 7-5. The Red Raiders added a try right before halftime to take a 14-7 lead and then scored again in the second half to come away with a 21-5 win.
Nazareth will host the Golden Flyers 7's Tournament next weekend on the Upper Field for the first home matches of the season.
