ROCHESTER, NY – (nazathletics.com) Nazareth Men's Rugby hosted the Binghamton Bearcats in Golden Flyer Stadium on Sunday to cap off Family and Alumni weekend. Nazareth recognized its four seniors before the game; Captain Jacob Hernandez, Captain
Russell Delos Santos,
Jack Zatlukal, and
Wyatt Kelley.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Binghamton entered the match off to a strong start to the Fall 2026 season. Both teams made mistakes early in the game leading to some back and forth, and a high scrum down count. The scrum is a way to restart play after certain mistakes or minor infractions have been made.
The Bearcats opened the scoring with a try (5) and a conversion (2) for a 7-0 lead. Nazareth responded right back with a converted try of their own from 60 meters out to make it 7-7. It was freshman
Gunnar Tyrrell's first of the day. The try assist from sophomore Zak Zaddem.
Big time pressure from Defensive Player of the Match,
Conner Nicks, forced a turnover in the Bearcats end of the field. Nazareth senior fly half and captain, Jacob Hernandez, capitalized immediately by kicking to himself and chasing. A Binghamton player committed a penalty on the play to award Nazareth a penalty try, worth the full 7 points, putting Naz in the lead 14-7 with 13 minutes left in the first half. Binghamton led a fast aggressive attack to bounce right back and tie the game. Halftime score, 14-14.
The second half was controlled by Nazareth for the first 20 minutes. A great offload assist from Sophomore Kam Walls to Tyrrell led to another score for the standout freshman. The unconverted try put the Golden Flyers ahead 19-14. Minutes later junior
Zayan Mohammed assisted Walls in the corner of the try zone for another 5 points for Nazareth. 24-14.
Binghamton responded with two tries of their own, converting one, to make the score 26-24 with 5 minutes left in the match. The Golden Flyers kept soaring however, playing until the last whistle which would eventually lead to Tyrrell scoring his third try of the day on the final play. The try was assisted by Nicks and the Golden Flyers capped the day with the win, 29-26.
UP NEXT:
The win marks the first 15s rugby win at Nazareth for second year head coach, Rob Ruhland. The Golden Flyers did not play 15s rugby in 2025-26. The team is building momentum and now sits at 1-1 in the Liberty Rugby Conference. Their next game is on the road at Marist University.
