In cold, very snowy weather, the AIC Yellowjackets were hot as they blazed through the field to win the 2nd round of the Empire 7s series.

Held at Stony Brook University, this was the 2nd in the series, with the first tournament won by Kutztown. AIC’s defense was solid throughout and they defeated Stony Brook 31-5 in the final. Stony Brook, for the second tournament in a row, was the highest-finishing Empire Conference team.

“It was great to get the win,” said relatively newcomer Tarik James. “Playing in cold weather like this is tough. You play, then stop, then need to warm up again, and get ready to play. It was a challenge.”

He seemed to do OK as James was one of the team’s leading try-scorers. AIC Head Coach Josh Macy ran out a relatively young team, with current USA U20 player Seth Halliman off with the Junior All Americans and Christian Adams also on the sidelines.

“We’ve got to show that we have depth and it was good to get a lot of these players time on the field,” said Macy.

AIC is looking ahed to their USA Rugby 7s Championships qualifier April 12 at the Armory 7s, while the Empire 7s concludes in Binghamton, NY April 18.