FAIRFIELD, CT – In the final Liberty Rugby Conference (LRC) leg of the season, the Nazareth College Rugby team finished 3-2 overall to collect 11 conference standing points. The Golden Flyers defeated Binghamton and Iona before downing the University of Connecticut in overtime.
Junior Khyree Poole finished with eight tries including a game-tying try at the end of regulation against Connecticut and the overtime winner against the Huskies.
Nazareth downed Binghamton 24-10 and Iona 38-0 in the first two matches of the day but dropped a close 21-14 match to host Fairfield to finish second in the pool standings.
The Golden Flyers had an early lead against Connecticut in the first playoff round match but needed the late try by Poole to tie the game as time expired in the second half. In overtime, Poole made a game-saving tackle to force the Husky runner out of bounds and Nazareth moved up the field with solid passing.
Poole capped the drive with a 20-meter run that started with a pair of great moves to create a hole in the defense and Poole darted forward with a sprint to the try zone for the thrilling win.
Nazareth had another early lead in the final match of the day against Northeastern but the Huskies scored three second-half tries to overcome the deficit and win a 24-12 decision.
Against Binghamton, Poole and freshman Brendan O'Neill scored tries for an early 10-0 lead before the Bearcats scored at the end of the first half to cut the lead in half at 10-5.
Sophomore Tyreik Thomas scored with five minutes left to increase the Nazareth lead to 17-5 and then made a nice tackle near the try line that caused a turnover. Poole ran 20 meters before tossing to O'Neill who made a quick move toward the center of the field before sending a behind-the-back pass to junior Khalil Lynch who raced in from midfield for the try and a 24-5 lead.
Binghamton scored late for the final result of 24-10 in favor of Nazareth.
In the Iona match, Lynch scored twice early and Poole added a try for a 19-0 halftime lead. Poole, sophomores Jacob Townsand and Owen Fitzwater each scored in the second half as the Golden Flyers ran away with the 38-0 win.
Poole scored early against Fairfield but the Stags rallied for two long drives and tries for a 14-7 halftime lead.
Poole scored again early in the second half to tie the game at 14-14 with a 20-meter run.
Fairfield regained the lead a few minutes later with a short run up the middle after a sideline out of bounds turnover.
Thomas had a chance to tie the game late in the second half but as he ran up the sideline, he was ruled out of bounds 10 meters from the try line as the game ended.
In the final against Northeastern, Poole scored his eighth try of the day for an early 5-0 lead but the Huskies tied the game with a nice fake and run up the middle from 20 meters out.
Thomas regained the lead as he capped a run up the middle and the Golden Flyers took a 12-5 lead.
Northeastern scored a pair of quick tries at the end of the first half to take a 17-12 lead into the break.
The Huskies scored the only try of the second half and took the 24-12 win in the final game.
Nazareth completes the regular season with a 15-10-1 record and an 8-6-1 conference mark and remain in contention for a chance to play in the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) National Championship Tournament in New Orleans over Memorial Day Weekend. The official selections for the tournament are scheduled for April 30.
