As we prepare for another season in the Tri-State Men’s DII Conference, it’s worth noting something from last spring’s All-Conference team.

Two players - Anthony Cormace of RPI and Steven Malinowski of Molloy - were named. Different schools, different teams. Rivals, in fact, as Cormace captained RPI to the conference title, and Malinowski was co-captain of the Molloy team the Engineers beat in the championship game.

But they are also good friends. Both, in fact, attended the same high school, General Douglas MacArthur High School in Levittown, NY, a high school that doesn’t have a rugby team. Cormace and Malinowski were classmates from elementary school through high school. Neither expected to be college rugby players, and yet both ended up multiple all-conference selections and team captains.

“We lost touch when we went to college so I had no idea he even played rugby until last years All Conference selections were announced,” said Malinowski of Cormace. “I never expected that we would both end up facing each other in a conference championship match. I have the utmost respect for Anthony and based on the way he and his team played in the conference finals I can tell that he is an amazing player and leader.”

Like Malonowski, Cormace wasn’t a rugby player in high school.

“I did not play rugby in high school, but I was always playing sports year-round,” he said. “I was on the soccer team, wrestled, and ran track. Going into college, I still wanted to play sports, but varsity level sports seemed to take up too much time and I needed to focus on my academics, so a club sport seemed like a good option. During the first week of school I attended the Rugby 101 event, and I really enjoyed it.”

Cormace said he never spoke about rugby with Malinowski, and they both found the sport on their own.

“It was great to see an old friend loving the same sport as me several years later, and experiencing a lot of success with his team,” he said. 

It gets bigger than that. For some reason, the two high schools in Levittown, MacArthur and Division, seem to produce more than their share of successful college rugby players, even though neither school has a rugby team. You wonder how things would be if they did.

Kevin Adair (Division) went on to be an All-Conference player at Molloy.

RPI won the Tri-State Conference last year. Holding the plaque is Cormace.

Thomas Malinowski (MacArthur) also went on to play for Molloy and made all-conference twice.

Matthew Cooley (Division) captained Molloy and was all-conference in the 2014-15 season.

Joe Smithwick (MacArthur) was a leading player for Hofstra and all-conference.

Anthony Cormace (MacArthur) led RPI to a conference title in the fall of 2015 and was all-conference the last two seasons.

Steven Malinowski (MacAthur) was president and co-captain of Molloy rugby and two-time all-conference.

Justin Walsh (Division) plays for Molloy; James Evans (MacArthur) plays for SUNY New Paltz; Jordan Fisher (MacArthur) played for RPI; Kevin Olsen (MacArthur) plays for SUNY Cortland.

“It doesn't necessarily brother me that MacArthur doesn't have a rugby program because I know that not most public high schools on Long Island do not, but with all the rugby talent that these schools are producing they should definitely consider starting one,” said Malinowski. “And, hey, if they need a coach I would gladly team up with Anthony and make that happen! Any chance to grow the game of rugby and show kids how much fun rugby is, I want to be a part of it. Rugby has changed my life for the better and unfortunately I only started playing when I was a freshmen in college. I wish I could have started playing sooner.”

And then he would have been playing with his buddies, as well as playing against them.