Eric Bernsen/The Mirror

As the sun set over the Fairfield campus last Saturday evening, Alumni Field was the place to be.

The Men’s Rugby team hosted rival Sacred Heart last Saturday. The Red Ruggers’ opening game was a hard fought 26-20 win against a team that had already played two matches.

With hard running and strong defense that led to numerous scoring chances, Fairfield excelled in the first 40 minutes of the match and held a 19-3 lead by the end of the half.

However, the momentum reversed in the second half of play and Sacred Heart came storming back against the young Fairfield squad. After a successful try by Sacred Heart, the margin was narrowed down to a 19-13 score.

But after a successful tap by Red Ruggers senior Matt Almedia, Fairfield was able to hold onto the lead for the rest of the match by successfully fighting off Sacred Heart’s second half surge.

Fairfield Head Coach Matt Leonard was pleasantly surprised by his teams strong effort.

“Everyone looked very fit and focused. Our team worked together well and the future looks good if we continue to work hard,” Leonard said.

There was a great student turnout at the match and the passionate support of the fans inspired the team to put forth its strongest effort.

“After being on hiatus for a year to come back with a victory was special and the fact that supporters came to cheer us on really inspired us to put forth all we had,” said junior Gareth McLoughlin

Many players on the team echoed this sentiment, many of them greeting their parents after the game with large smiles and celebration in mind.

“The win last Saturday was priceless. It was just what we needed after all this time off the pitch,” said junior Christian Ford. “We consider each other brothers and have worked together on and off the field to stay close as a team throughout the past year. Our hard work clearly paid off.”

Coach Leonard was also impressed by the student presence, but admitted the dangers that Alumni Field poses to his players, with multiple injuries occurring over the course of the game.

“I had never seen the students like that before. Although Alumni Field was a nice venue, rugby should not be played on such a [turf] surface!”

Next weekend the Fairfield Red Ruggers are on the road against Boston University. After which, they will prepare for the highly anticipated Beast of the East Tournament in Rhode Island.

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