With a 31-0 defeat of the University at Albany, the Rochester Institute of Technology has put themselves into the discussion in what promises to be a challenging Liberty Men's D2 collegiate conference.
For the RIT Tigers, this is a huge step forward for a team that had to battle to get ahead of the other contenders in the region. The result against Albany is just the next step. Head Coach Michael Davis Martin stepped into the role in 2023 and was determined to move the team up the standings.
"The team has continued to step up in all areas," said Davis Martin. "The players have all made a concerted effort to expand their rugby IQs both on the practice field, and over the summers by playing with men's club. Additionally having leaned heavily into recruiting this past summer, I feel this is the strongest team we have fielded to date. We have transitioned offensive systems and honed in on defense at practice which has paid dividends during this first week's matchup."
"When I started playing with RIT Ruby, we did not belong to a league," said captain and No. 8 Ioannis Pavlides, who was recently capped by Greece (at prop). "Instead we played friendlies against other schools on a pitch that belongs to the Rochester Men's Club and we had little to no support from the school. Despite our humble origins, we have built an impressive program. The work of the previous president, Duncan Auer, got us established in this league and built a coaching staff that has a vision for the future of RIT Rugby."
