Brooklyn Rugby tops Knights, Women fall to Hartford

In week 2 of the 2015 season, the Brooklyn Rugby men faced off against the Gotham Knights (NYC), coming away with a hard fought 39-15 victory, while the women hosted a strong Hartford (CT) team, falling 36-12.

The Brooklyn men fell behind early, as Gotham touched down in the eighth minute to go up 5-0 after missing on the conversion. Johnny Gearity then brought Brooklyn within two points after kicking the team’s first penalty, making the score 5-3. Gotham then increased their lead with a second try less than ten minutes later to go up 10-3, but Brooklyn responded just a few minutes later when Toby Tornay touched down. Gearity was unsuccessful on the conversion and the teams would head into halftime with Gotham leading 10-8.

In the second half, Brooklyn was able to get the ball wide to Ben “Bino” Deshchamps along the sideline and he was able to touch down in the corner, putting Brooklyn up 15-10 after Gearity’s successful conversion. Shortly thereafter, Brooklyn added two more successive tries from Mike Reilly and Simon Fong, who pounced on a loose ball in Gotham’s try zone, putting Brooklyn up 27-10 after Gearity converted on the second of the two tries. Tornay then added the second of his two tries on the day, and Erik Aurigemma added the conversion as Brooklyn increased its lead to 34-10. Both Gotham and Brooklyn would add one more try each, with Brooklyn’s Jorge Quintana touching down off of a maul from five meters outside Gotham’s try zone in the final minutes.

Gotham Knights: 15 – Brooklyn: 39
Tries: Toby Tornay (2), Ben Deschamps, Mike Reilly, Simon Fong, Jorge Quintana
Conversions: Johnny Gearity (2), Erik Aurigemma
Penalties: Johnny Gearity

On the women’s side, Brooklyn faced off against a formidable opponent in Hartford Rugby who made the trip down from Connecticut. Alex Mostrom opened the scoring for Brooklyn when she touched down about midway through the first half, followed by a successful conversion from Crystal Groves.

In the second half, Groves would add one more try for Brooklyn before the final whistle, but was unsuccessful on the conversion. The final whistle sounded with Brooklyn falling to Hartford 36-12.

Brooklyn: 12 – Hartford: 36
Tries: Alex Mostrom, Crystal Groves
Conversions: Crystal Groves

The Brooklyn men and women continue their season on Saturday, September 26, when the men face off against New York Rugby Club (NYC) and the women travel north to take on Providence Rugby Club (RI).