The La Salle Men’s Rugby team finished up a great fall season with a 60-7 win over Widener Law School. The game remained close early in the first half when Widener responded to a Kyle Harris try, but even though the game was close throughout, signs of a La Salle breakout were evident as several Explorers had great runs, but just could not get in the end zone.
La Salle would finally pull away in the second half, when La Salle was able to get a few hard fought scores. Julian Collins and Anthony Machcinski would score from only a few meters away from the tri zone. Machcinski, a six-foot senior from Kearny, N.J., was not happy with the lack of missed opportunities.
“ We scored a bunch of times, and although its great to be able to win by 53, there were a bunch of missed chances that could have put this game away even earlier.”
The game was the last for senior 8-man Brendan Bartosiewicz. Bartosiewicz would be helped scoreless on the day, but was the leader of a team who had a complete transformation.
“Personally, I thought the freshman stepped up the most, especially in the second half,” said the Bayonne, NJ native, “Winning rucks and beating them in the scrums (was a huge factor in the win), as well as our defense not allowing them to advance at all.”
Bartosiewicz was one of two captains who lead an extremely young team. The team now looks to move into Division III next year and compete for the championship.
“The team stands wherever the players want it to stand. Coming from playing rugby on multiple levels, I would say the team has the potential to do whatever it wants to do in a couple of years.”
One of those freshman is hooker Mario ‘Chico’ Borbon. Borbon had two scores including a long run for a try against Widener and has stepped in at a vital spot for the Explorers.
“It was a huge rush. I was really hyped,” said Borbon about his run. The scores were Borbon’s first and second of his La Salle career.
The team has now completed its season for the fall, and in the next few weeks will release a schedule for the season in the spring
