UAlbany Rugby Archives 2004

Fall 2004

Danes win Empire Tournament

10/16/04 Albany 40 - Siena College 7

By John Lubowsky - Albany, NY - The Danes continued their winning ways by capturing the Empire Rugby Festival Pool A crown. The Danes beat cross town rivals Albany Law School and Siena College for the championship. This is the second year in a row that they have won the tournament, which features teams from across New York State.

In the first game, Albany had trouble getting out of the blocks against a determined Albany Law side which controlled much of the first 15 minutes of play. Law’s flanker Kevin Burkett scored on a 25 metre run to put Law up by 7. This early Law score woke the Danes up. The Dane’s went to a tight 10 man style of play which utilizes the scrummer’s pounding away at the defense. Props Parker Smith and Giorgio Bianchi continually picked up ruck ball and challenged the Law defenders. This tight play led to outside gaps in the Law defense. The Dane’s would hit these gaps for scores. Tim furgal, Bill Bruno, frank Adams and Mike Murphy , would all pick up tries to finish of the Lawyers to be, 24-7.

The Dane’s second match pitted them against arch rival Siena College. Albany got on the board right away and never let up against the boys from Loudonville. The Albany back field of DeMartinis, Murphy, Chung, Galway, Horan and Faherty spread the ball wide against a thin Siena defense allowing Albany to hammer away at Siena’s fly half and centers. Albany’s Bruno, Boysen (2), Bianchi, Burhartt, Janak and Murphy all had scores to secure the game and the Empire title for the second straight year for Albany.

Albany’s Second XV ,also entered in the tournament, lost tough games to Union College, 22-3 and Pool B champs Plattsburgh State, 27-5. Asif Kuamandan, Petr Janak and Joe DeMartinis led the Second’s in these games against first side competition. This bodes well for the club’s future. Albany’s less experienced second side improved dramatically from the start of the season as a reckless , undisciplined group to a well oiled team by season’s end.

10/16/04 Albany 61 - LeMoyne College 6
By John Lubowsky - Albany, NY - The UAlbany Great Danes Rugby Club finished out thier New York State Rugby Conference schedule by pounding LeMoyne College 61-6 at the Dane's home field. Albany came out strong and relentless. Albany scored early and often. Needing a sounding victory for a conference playoff slot, Albany's 8 man Bill Bruno started the scoring off the opening kickoff. Justin Horan would score next to break the game open. Joe Szlay and Mike Murphy would each score twice in the half sandwiched around a Giorgio Bianchi score. LeMoyne's Carl Page would kick a late penalty to finish off the half with Albany up 41-3. Albany picked up where they left off in the first half with constant offensive pressure. Bruno, DeMartinis and Horan would all cross the try line in the second half with DeMarinis addinig his secondpenalty kick of the game. Page would add another for LeMoyne to end the match at 61-6. Albany won all 16 of their scrums with one push over try. DeMartinis, Bruno and Telfer led the Danes with 8 tackles a piece.

Albany and Cortland finished in a dead heat in the standings at 3-1-1, and the teams tied 17-17 in the only regular-season meeting. Cortland picked up the No. 2 seed in the playoffs by virtue of a 93-86 margin over Albany in net points - after comparing records and head-to-head play. Albany wil play Albany Law and wrap the season up in two weeks at the Empire Rugby Festival.
10/9/04 Albany 33 - Union College 3
By John "The Crude" Lubowsky - Schenectady, NY - The UAlbany Great Danes Rugby Club improved their record to 2-2-1 by defeating Union College,33-8 at Union's Nott Memorial Field in a New York State Rugby Conference match. The Danes once again came out and controlled the tempo from the opening kickoff. Center Mike Murphy scored the first of his two tries 15 minutes into the half. Albany reworked their game plan from weeks past relying on possession and field position as opposed to an all out attack mode. The change worked well for the Danes who get bolt into half time with Murphy's second score and a DeMartinis penalty kick. Albany pounded Union in the second half when flanker Marty Telfer scored off a 3 pass movement. Winger Justin Horan and lock Frank Adams both added scores to cure Albany's usual second half lull. Center Tim Furga, hooker Dan Clements and flanker Petr Janak all got their first A side caps for the Danes. DeMartinis' 10 tackles and Adams'7 led led the way for the Danes stingy defense.

Albany takes on Lemoyne College in a must win game on Parent's Day in Albany - 1:00pm kick off Saturday, 10/16/04.

10/2/04 Albany 22 - Colgate U. 15
By John "The Crude" Lubowsky - Hamilton, NY - The UAlbany Great Danes Rugby Club kept their playoff hopes alive by defeating Colgate U.,22-15,at Gate's Academy Field in a New York State Rugby Conference match. The Danes once again came out strong putting 17 points on the board in the first half. Hooker Joe Szlay took a dump pass from Marty Telfer to score under the posts. Center Pete Faherty cherry picked a Gate pass and ran it in for a score. DeMartinis converted the tries and added a penalty kick late in the half.

Albany's second half troubles continued this week. Albany allowed Gate back in the match with scores by centers Batzer and Speivak. Gate winger, Duane Grell, had the final score on the day. Albany committed three penalties in the last few minutes to keep Gate's hope alive but they were unable to convert.

Albany travels to Union College for a 1:00pm kick off Saturday, 10/9/04.

9/25/04 Albany 17 - Cortland 17
By John "The Crude" Lubowsky - Albany, NY - The UAlbany Great Danes Rugby Club tied,17-17, at home in a New York State Rugby Conference match. The Danes controlled the match with time of possesion but were unable to finish off many scoring opportunities.The Danes nearly doubled Cortland's offensive rucks, 81 -48. Mike Murphy got Albany on the board first with a try which was converted by Anthony DeMartinis. Cortland rallied late in the half when center Mike Burnett scored in the corner to pull Cortland to within 2 at the half.

Cortland would take the lead in the second half with scores by hooker James Scarpias and winger Justin Marquis ,and a conversion by Scarpias. With Albany down 17 -12, 8 man Bill Bruno drove in off a ruck to score in the corner. DeMartinis' tough angle conversion kick for the win hooked left in front of the post.

Albany travels to undefeated Colgate U for a 1:00pm kick off Saturday, 10/2/04.

9/11/04 Albany 27 - Siena College 29
By John "The Crude" Lubowsky - Albany, NY - The UAlbany Great Danes Rugby Club dropped their NYSRC opener,29-27, at home to arch rival Siena College. The Danes once again started strong when winger Matt Garrick scored in the corner in the first minutes. The Danes backfield scored the second of thier three scores when fullback Erik Galway scored in the other corner to put Albany up 10-0. Siena got on the board late in the first half when winger Tom Breslin scored to end the half, Albany 10- Siena 5.

The Albany forward put tremondous pressure on Siena playing the first 20 minutes of the half in the red zone. Albany prop Giorgio Bianchi scored twice and winger Garrick got his second score of the day to put Albany up 27-10 then Albany's wheels fell off. Siena, led by scrumhalf Michael Abbruzzese, would score three unanswered tries to put them down by 1 with less than a minute to play. Siena's momentum was boosted by Albany's 12 second half penalties. The last penalty, high tackle, proved to be the killer when Siena's Breslin nailed a 30 yard slight angle kick to win the match as time ran out.

Albany looks to rebound at home Vs. SUNY Cortland at 1:00pm Saturday 9/25/04.

9/11/04 Albany 15 - New Paltz 18
By John "The Crude" Lubowsky - New Paltz, NY - The UAlbany Danes Rugby Club dropped their season opener,15-18, on the road to in a cross conference game at Met NY D1 SUNY New Paltz. The Danes fell behind early in the match when New Paltz's Brian Lubell kicked a penalty goal. Albany answered with a try in the corner by co-captain Mike Murphy. DeMartinis was unable to convert the try. Tha Albany forwards controlled first half play in which they spent the majority of the half in New Paltz's half of the field and maintaining ball possesion. This constant pressure led to a break of a ruck by Bill Bruno who made a nice slip pass to flanker Marty Telfer for a score directly under the post. DeMartinis added the conversion to put the Danes up at the half, 12-3.

New Paltz gained momentum in the early stages of the second half when lightning quick winger Joe Campbell scored a 45 meter try down the sideline. New Paltz kept the momentum on their side through much of the half aided by 6 Albany penalties. With less than 4 minutes left in the game scrumhalf Dom Seltzer scored off a dummy a sliced through the Albany defense to put New Paltz up for good, 18-15.

Albany kicks off New York State Rugby Conference play this Saturday (9/18) at home Vs. arch rival Siena College. 1:00PM kick off.

Spring 2004

Spring Record 5-1-1

5/1/04 Albany 36 - Amherst College 29
By John "The Crude" Lubowsky - Albany, NY - The UAlbany Danes Rugby Club beat Union College in their last game of the season, 36-29,to improve their record to 5-1-1. A record Alumni weekend crowd was on hand to support the Danes who were led by Seniors Ben Frishman and Tom Sullivan.

The Danes started the scoring when prop ben Frishman dove in from a meter out. Albany controlled play for the first 30 min but Union fought back to take the lead at the half 21-20.

The second half was a see saw battle in which both teams traded scores. Albany took the lead late in the half with a score in the corner and Tom Sullivan ended his college career with a pick up of a Marty Telfer grubber for a score as time ran out for the 36 -29 victory.

4/24/04 Albany 16 - Amherst College 12
By John "Big Cat" Lubowsky, Albany, NY - Albany, NY - The UAlbany Danes Rugby Club beat New England Rugby Union D1 Amherst College Rugby at Albany's home pitch, 16 - 12. The Danes relied on the foot of co-captain Anthony DeMartinis who kicked 3 penalties and a conversion for 8 points. The Danes once again relied on constant forward movements by the scrummers who controlled the pace of the game winning 38 of the 46 rucks they committed to.

The Danes played good, but not inspired, rugby in the first half. Albany controlled play with it pack but could not punch it in with a few miscue near the goal line and a couple of wasted penalty taps within kicking range. Amherst countered and Albany attack with a quick spin to the backs where flanker Brandon Chuck filled the lane and went 35 meters for a score. Albany countered with pressure which led to DeMartinis' first penalty kick from straight on 30 meters to end the half down 5-3.

The second half Albany kept pounding Amherst with the big men in the pack but came up empty in the first 10 minutes. Amherst's Jim Kennedy scored off an Albany turnover to give the Amherst squad a 12- 3 lead. The following kick off saw Albany churn down field to force a scrum at the Amherst 5 meter mark. Stiff defensive pressure off the scrum enabled co-captain Mike Murphy to score on a loose ball, DeMartinis converted bringing the Albany to within 2. Albany pressure for the next 10 minutes resulted in 2 Amherst penalties which DeMartinis made them pay for hitting both from past the 22 meter mark to put Albany up for good, 16-12..

4/17/04 Albany 32 - RPI 19
By John Lubowsky, Troy, NY - Troy, NY - UAlbany came out of the blocks hard to defeat Capital District rivals RPI, 32-9. Albany's strong defense and forward play set the standard. Albany's #8 Bill Bruno scored 3 of his 4 tries in the first half to propell the Danes to 17-7 halftime lead.

Division 1 RPI showed their heart by coming out in the second half strong when Kevin kelly and Howard Lubell each scored on long runs to give the Red Hawks a 19-17 advantage. Albany countered when freshman prop Parker Smith rolled in off a ruck put the Danes back on top, 22- 19. Albany's co-captain Anthony DeMartinis nailed a tough angled penalty kick from 30 meters to give the Danes a 6 point cushion. Bruno's fourth score of the day, converted by DeMartinis, put the Red Hawks to bed. Bruno leads the Dane's in scoring this season with 5 scores this spring to add to the 9 in had this past fall in league play.

4/3/04
Albany 31 - Sacred Heart 0
Albany 36 - Maritime 5
Albany 0 - US Coast Guard 19
By John Lubowsky,
NY,NY - The Danes were once again in the city for Manhattan Rugby Club’s Big Apple College Tournament. The Dane’s showed no effect from the 8:00a.m. kick off to blast Sacred Heart University, 31-0 . Lock forward Marty Telfer scored twice to lead the Danes with Bianchi, Cummings, Fontinilla, and Tatlonghari all chipping in with one score each.
The Danes’ second round match up saw them cruise through SUNY Maritime,36-5. DeMartinis, Sullivan, Bianchi, Bruno and Dauman all scored for the Danes.
The Danes’ third round match up pit them against th U.S. Coast Guard Academy, a USA Rugby Sweet 16 finalist. The Dane’s battled tough but three costly mistakes in the first half led to USGA 19-0 lead which could not be over come by the tired UAlbany squad. Albany, playing with a split squad due to spring break, showed their heart in the second half holding the powerful side scoreless.

4/1/04 Albany 20 - Albany Law 37
By John Lubowsky, Albany, NY - The B's took on Law A at Lincoln Park on a messy field Wednesday afternoon match. The young Danes took awhile to figure things out on defense which allowed Law to score 4 times on the wing in the first half. The Bs kept it tight and played 10 man rugby which put enormous pressure on Law. Bruno (2), Lasky and Tatlonghari all scored in succesion. The comeback effort got them to within 2 points when Law answered with 2 late trys to seal the Bs fate.
3/27/04 Albany 7 - Columbia U 7
By John Lubowsky, Bronx, NY - The University at Albany Men’s Rugby Club kicked off it’s 30th anniversary season by battling to a 7-7 tie with at Columbia’s Van Cortland Park Field. Support for the Dane’s was tremondous with over 40 alumni, friends and families there to watch the club and take part in the 2nd annual big apple tailgate.

Columbia were led by NY Old Blue prop James McIntosh, having miraculously recovered from what was said to be a "sprained ankle" suffered at Hofstra the previous week. Standoff Gordon Pocock gave gave Columbia the lead early on a fifty meter run to score the try directly under the posts. Horgan made the easy conversion. The Albany forwards were well on top but were unable to score in the half despite putting enormous pressure on the opponent’s back line. Albany penalties and miscues killed any momentum they would gain.

Early in the second half Albany should have taken advantage of an attacking five-metre scrum but lost the ball and Columbia took play to the other end. Albany was able to get back in it’s opponents red zone after a long clearing kick by stand off Ryan Lasky was covered by Justin Horan. Albany would keep up the pressure to result in a scrum at the 35 metre line. Lock Marty Telfer took a ball off a third phase ruck to score a brilliant try in the right corner. Winger Justin Horan made the tough conversion to knot the score at 7s. Albany was able to attack during injury time but were unable to put any points on the board.

Captain Mike Murphy was full of praise for his team’s effort in battling back to tie a tough side at one of rugby’s hardest venues and paid tribute to the team’s defensive work.

Albany face another difficult task on Saturday when they visit the Randall’s Island in NYC to play in Manhattan Rugby Club’s Big Apple Tournament where they will face SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Maritime and Army.