Brooklyn Rugby women fall in playoffs, men drop season finale
The Brooklyn Rugby men concluded the 2015 regular season on Saturday, falling to rival Rockaway Rugby Club (NYC), 31-17, to finish second in the division. The women, meanwhile, faced Providence Rugby Club (RI) in the first round of the Empire GU playoffs, falling 10-0.
In the men’s game, Brooklyn opened the match with multiple opportunities to run away with the game early, but failed to score until Ben “Bino” DesChamps converted a penalty to put Brooklyn up 3-0. Five minutes later, Rockaway scored after breaking through the Brooklyn defense from about 15 meters out, but failed on the conversion, putting them up 5-3. The first half was marked by strong defensive play on both sides, as the teams went into halftime with Rockaway leading 5-3.
In the second half, Rockaway was able to score four unanswered tries over the first twenty minutes to go up 31-3, a lead that seemed insurmountable to many of the onlookers. But in the final minutes of the game, Brooklyn was able to put across two tries from Johnny Brennan and Bino DesChamps to narrow Rockaway’s lead. In the end, however, it wasn’t enough, as Rockaway held on to win 31-17.
Brooklyn finished the season with an 8-2 record, and will now look to its first round playoff game in April.