Season In Review: Endicott Men’s Club Rugby

BEVERLY, Mass. - The Endicott men’s club rugby team had a successful 2013 season where they finished at 3-4. 2013 marked the first competitive season for the men’s rugby team as they were invited to join one of the most prestigious conferences in the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) the Colonial Coast Rugby Conference (CCRC) just last spring.

The CCRC made history this season as they were the only conference in the NSCRO to have three teams ranked in the top 20. The Blue and Green keep good company in the conference as they continued to play some of the best teams in the country to get better every day. Three of the four losses the Gulls faced this season were to the three teams that hit the ranking: #5 Salve Regina, #12 Roger Williams and #19 Western New England.

Endicott started their season off with a bang as they shutout UMass Dartmouth 37-0. Sophomore Brian Sussingham (Yonkers, N.Y.) led the Blue and Green in scoring with three tries for a total of 15 points on the day. Coach McIntyre could not have been more pleased with the win saying “The win showed that we belonged in the league and that we could compete. I think it really gave the team a lot of confidence and proved that we had the potential to be something special.”

As the season continued they faced three tough losses to #12 Roger Williams, Mass Maritime and #19 Western New England. Against #12 Roger Williams the Gulls were able to get 12 points on the board in the 12-48 loss with key efforts from Sussingham and sophomore Justin Klanica (Cheshire, Conn.). In the contest against Mass Maritime three different Gulls scored tries with points from Sussingham, junior Patrick Cormier (Portland, Maine) and freshman Jesse Adelberg (Greenwich, Conn.).  When they crossed paths with the #19 Golden Bears the Blue and Green tallied 12 points led by Adelberg with seven.

“The losses showed us what we needed to do to bring our game to the next level. We battled some of the best teams on their home turf and I was happy with our efforts and the team learned what they needed to do to get better.”

Endicott finished the rest of their season with two big wins.  Against Wheaton where junior co-captain Austin Spencer (North Yarmouth, Maine) tallied a season high 11 points in the 26-17 victory. In the 17-5 victory over Wentworth sophomore co-captain Ryan Stanek (Cheshire, Conn.) came up big with 10 points followed by Sussingham with five. The Gulls finished up their season against #5 Salve Regina where they fought to the end in the 7-46 loss.

Overall Coach McIntyre and Coach Scott were pleased with the outcome of the season stating “We have a lot of potential, this season was a chance for us to get our feet wet and be competitive.  Coach Scott and myself can only see us getting better from here” stated Coach McIntyre.

Co-captain Stanek wrapped up the season well stating “This team is just a bunch of brothers giving it all for one another, it does not get much better than that.”

As a whole the Gulls tallied 128 points on the season, while getting on the board in every single game. Sussingham led the team in scoring with 35 points, while scoring a try in five of the seven games on the season. Following in his stead, Spencer finished up with 22 points.

Season Statistics: