Xavier Beats Pelham, Chaminade
Xavier Beats Pelham, Chaminade
Xavier defeated the Pelham High School Pelicans and Chaminade in two games over the weekend.
“I thought that we were comfortable playing our own game," said Xavier hooker and Player of the Game vs Pelham, Anthony Dabao. This game, he added, was the performance against a tough Pelham team is what the Knights needed to get back on track for nationals.
The Knight’s first try came nine minutes into the first half by the inside center Jamie Franchock. The next try came two minutes later by Sean Kull, who started at wing due to an injury to Alex Zagoreos earlier in the week.
“We moved Jake Billows back to fullback and he felt at home there," said Xavier Head Coach Greg Norris. "We brought Kull in to play wing, and he certainly put his hand up for the position.”
After front-rower Christopher O’Hallaran-Gannon scored, Billows showed how he was embracing his new role by getting a try just before the halftime break.
Pelham adjusted in the second half and came out scoring within two minutes of the kickoff. The Knights answered several minutes later with a try by wing Padraig Long, and added two more by Dabao and outside center Benedetto Loria. Pelham put up one more try in the second half.
Captain and lock Maseah Young agreed that this was an important victory for the Knights.
“Being able to be back in the win column was important for us. Pelham played a great game and they helped us realize our mistakes.” According to Young, Xavier still has things to work on, but the match was “great preparation for Greenwich next weekend.”
“Pelham came out hungry and definitely brought intensity to their play,” said flanker Matt Scariano. “They played fast but our physicality and ball movement gave us an important edge in the match.”
Pelham Head Coach matt Persanis said that while Xavier played well, he was not happy with his side's approach.
"We were poor," said Persanis, "not making calls, not playing our plan. Too many guys trying to do it all. We will be better."
“We varied it up a little bit, but not as much as I had hoped,” said Norris, adding that the Knights still need to work harder with on-field communication. “All of the players have to be doing the right thing at the right time for that one player to be successful with the ball.”
Dabao was very good for Xavier.
The growth in New York of rugby within the Catholic league schools is being led by Chaminade, which is enjoying its first season.
Xavier put on a tough 2nd side and won 39-7.
“We went into Chaminade with a lot of questions since they’d only played one game but had won by a considerable margin," said Head Coach Ski Bailey. "Their size and spacing on attack gave us problems until we adjusted”
“Credit to Chaminade,” added flanker Patrick McCann. “They came out hungry in the first half and capitalized on our mistakes.”
Throughout the match, Chaminade demonstrated excellent athleticism on the field and McCann noted that “after only being up by two tries heading into the second half, it was vital that we stuck to our shape and played simple. This mindset was vital and led to multiple scoring opportunities.”
Two of Xavier’s three tries in the first half were scored by front-rower and Man of the Match Louis Freeman, who would add one more try in the second half. Front rower Dan O’Malley scored one try in the first half, while outside center Sean McHugh, and full back Alex Leon and Shane Zaletofsky each scored one.
Freeman said that he was really happy with the team’s defensive line and how well the Knights secured the ruck. “It was a big step for us,” he said, “and if we maintain this, there is no limit to what we can do.”
— Michael V. LiVigni
