The University of Rhode Island men’s rugby team had a memorable season during the fall semester of 2015, before losing in the national quarterfinals to eventual runner up no. 2 University of Wisconsin.
“This was the best season we have had during my time coaching here. We had a deep group of guys who were all committed and all had a desire to win, compete, and accomplish something our program never has before,†head coach Warren Boothman said.
During the regular season Rhode Island’s only loss in conference play was to last year’s regional finalists, the University of Vermont, 32-5 on Oct. 3. Rhode Island got their revenge on Vermont in their final regular season match with a 15-7 victory. Following the regular season the two sides met for another time. The stakes were high with a chance to compete for a Division II national championship in the round of 32 play-in-game of the Northeast Regional bracket. Rhode Island edged out UVM 27-21 to move on and face the State University of New York Oswego in the round of 16.
“In the national tournament every team we faced was a challenge even the match we won convincingly against Oswego. It was ironic we started off the tournament against a team we knew well from the regular season in Vermont,†Boothman said.
Rhode Island rolled through their round of 16 matchup with an dominating 58-17 victory over SUNY Oswego. Anthony Kennedy, Chris Hayes, Adam Feiszli, Tom Morini, Jack DeLeo, Darryl Brooks, Alex Sabitoni, Will Coris and Vinny Liguori all scored tries, while Kennedy added 13 more points kicking.
Rhode Island’s postseason run continued in the national quarterfinals against the University of Wisconsin Whitewater at Founders Field in Cheswick, Pennsylvania on Nov. 22. Wisconsin Whitewater was coming off of multiple convincing wins in the first two rounds outscoring their opponents 113-12 Â and a No. 2 national ranking beside their name. Rhode Island gave Wisconsin Whitewater a valiant effort in the national quarterfinals matchup. The Warhawks had the Rams in their grasp with a 19-6 lead at intermission. Rhode Island’s defense held Wisconsin Whitewater from pulling away beyond the 19-6 deficit. Rhode Island’s Darryl Brooks barged in for a try to finish one series of rucks, and Will Coris finished another Rhode Island break for another try, pulling Rhode Island within three, 19-16. The Warhawks responded with a try of their own in the left corner in the 64th minute. Rhode Island’s Adam Nabb covered his own scamper and kicked ahead for another URI try, bringing the deficit back to three points with seven minutes to play. A blocked kick by URI led to one final Whitewater try to close out a 31-21 win for the eventual national championship runners up.
“The end goal was to win a national championship which were unable to do this year, but only losing twice all year against some top competition in the country is a testament to how hard our guys worked. Our J-Rams, which is the equivalent of our junior varsity team were a major component to our success this year. They added depth to our roster and finished their season without any losses. Many of the guys performed so well they were able to impact the varsity club games on a similar level,” Boothman said.