Iona club rugby announces spring events schedule

Lachlan Wellington, Sports Editor

The Iona Club Rugby team announced their Spring 7s events schedule for spring tournaments and matches.
 

The team is pencilled in to play in the Rugby New York Tournament in Mount Vernon on March 5, the Free Jack Tournament in Quincy, Massachusetts on March 25, the Liberty Conference Championship in Fairfield, Connecticut on April 1 and the Saratoga Collegiate Cup in Saratoga Springs, New York on April 15.  

 

The Collegiate Rugby Championships are then being held in Washington, D.C. on April 28.  

 

During the fall, the team went 6-2 in the eight games that they played, finishing with a .750 win percentage overall, going 3-1 home and away.  

 

In conference play, the team went 3-2, only losing to top ten nationally ranked opponents: the number nine ranked Fairfield University (20-41) and number two ranked Brown University (5-32).  

 

The team plays in the Liberty Conference, where they finished third in the D1 Liberty West with 16 points, behind Brown University (25) and Fairfield University (20). 

 

The Gaels started the season with a pair of wins at home on Mazzella Field against University of Massachusetts Amherst (21-12) and Fordham University (47-14).  

 

Iona then lost their next two matches against Fairfield University and Brown University, which proved to be the only two defeats the Gaels suffered during the season.
 

The team completed the regular season with wins against Syracuse University (32-29), Clemson University on senior day (41-19) on Oct. 15, which was also broadcast on ESPN3 and finally against Colgate University (51-22), on Oct. 22.
 

The Gaels concluded their fall schedule by winning the 2022 Liberty Rugby Conference Challenge Bowl 29-15 against Nazareth College.  

 

In Iona’s post-season awards, for the A-side, Conor Byrne won player of the year, Anthony Antonelli and Jordan McKenzie shared the forward of the year award, AJ Livoti won back of the year, Kian McGeever was named the most improved forward, Brian Duggan won most improved back of the year and Jack Huscher won rookie of the year.
 

Gerry Lanning and Kian McGeever shared the Pat Quinn homecoming man of the match award for the team’s victory over Clemson University.
 

For the B-side, Ryan Charvat won the player of the year award, Breyten Debets won forward of the year and Kevin Newman won the back of the year award.