Brooklyn Rugby men secure playoff spot with sixth straight win
The Brooklyn Rugby men’s team secured a spot in the Empire Geographic Union Rugby Playoffs for the second consecutive year, with a 35-17 win over Suffolk Bull Moose Rugby Club (Long Island) on Saturday.
Brooklyn opened up the scoring on their first possession when Mike Reilly broke through the defensive line from 30 meters out to score the first of his two tries. Ben “Bino” Deschamps added the conversion to put Brooklyn up 7-0 before the five-minute mark. Suffolk responded several minutes later with their first try to even the score at 7. Deschamps then added a penalty to put Brooklyn up by three, only to be matched by Suffolk with their own penalty shortly thereafter, evening the score at 10. Then shortly before halftime, Suffolk intercepted a pass at midfield and returned it for a try under the posts to take a 17-10 lead into the break.
Despite the momentum Suffolk gained heading into halftime, it was Brooklyn that came out in the second half to score five unanswered tries. The scoring began when Johnny Gearity crossed several minutes into the half, and was followed up with a Craig Mackenzie try a few minutes later. Both conversions were unsuccessful, but it was at this point that Brooklyn took the lead, 20-17, not allowing a single point from Suffolk for the remainder of the game.