Harvey Rugby Advances to State Title Game

The Harvey rugby team is one victory away from winning a state championship. The Cavaliers defeated the Syracuse Silverbacks Saturday 46-12 in a semifinal match of the RugbyNY Championships in Utica, N.Y.

Following some early back and forth play, the Cavaliers from Katonah began to find their stride after the first few minutes of play. The forwards bulled the ball down the pitch, and in the 11th minute of play, Kieran O’Connor found the tryline to give Harvey a five-point advantage.  Harvey kept the pressure on Syracuse, and following a nice kick by Charlie Seider, the Cavaliers dominated a lineout and found Kole Dojak for points. Christian Artuso of Katonah converted to increase Harvey’s lead to 12.

In the 27th minute, John Jay High School’s Reed Feldman broke a 30-meter run for Harvey, and the forwards were rewarded for their support when Christian Harrington crashed in for more points in the third phase. Eight minutes later Harvey stole a Syracuse lineout, and the backs, led by Seider and Feldman, advanced the ball quickly. The ball was offloaded to a racing Ilam Gressel who dotted down the field to give Harvey a 22-0 lead. In stoppage time the Cavaliers kept their foot on the gas and were rewarded once again as Gressel punched through the Syracuse line to give Harvey a 29-0 lead entering the half.

Following halftime, Syracuse took advantage of consecutive Harvey penalties and scored a try in the 40th minute of play. In the 46th minute Artuso  placed a chip kick 25 meters down the pitch and Feldman recovered the kick on a bounce to give Harvey 36 points. 

Syracuse responded briefly with points in the 51st minute, but Artuso and his teammates answered right back. Artuso scored in the 62nd minute. In the 66th minute Artuso recovered his own chip kick to cap the scoring for Harvey. 

Harvey (10-3) faces Hamburg, N.Y. Sunday at 10 a.m. for the New York State Champion Tier 2 title.