Harvey Wins State Rugby Championship

The Harvey School’s boys rugby team captured a state title Sunday with a hard fought 50-31 victory over Hamburg Rugby Club in the Tier 2 RugbyNY State Championship Game on the campus of SUNY Institute of Technology in Utica. The Cavaliers, winners of their semifinal match Saturday against the Syracuse Silverbacks, faced off against a Hamburg team that had won its semifinal game by 36 points.

Harvey’s head coach Phil Lazzaro knew his team had its hands full against Hamburg and its formidable backline. “Our plan was simple heading in to the tilt,” said Lazzaro. “We knew we had to have our forwards pressure on defense and show the upstate boys what our backline could do.”

In cool but sunny conditions at the 10 a.m. kickoff, the match started off well for Harvey. Despite some heavy pressure, Harvey’s backs broke through in the second minute of play. John Jay High School’s Reed Feldman found the tryzone for the Cavaliers and senior captain Christian Artuso of Katonah converted to give Harvey a seven-point advantage.  The Cavaliers kept the pressure on the upstate ruggers, and following a break from Ilam Gressel, Artuso found Charlie Seider who punched in Harvey’s second score. Artuso converted, giving his team an early 14- point lead.

In the 20th minute, following consecutive penalties, Hamburg won its lineout deep in Cavalier territory and found its first points to cut into Harvey’s lead. Undeterred, the Cavaliers saw their backs bully through the Hamburg backline as Feldman went on a 40-meter sprint to bring the ball into Hamburg territory. Following some nice forward work, Artuso exploited a gap in the defense and touched down. In stoppage time, following three Harvey penalties, Hamburg scored again, narrowing Harvey’s lead to 19-12 at halftime.

Off the opening kick in the restart, the Harvey backs once again dominated play. Gressel of the Hackley School, broke free in the 36th minute and went off to the races on an 82-meter run to give Harvey a two try lead at 26-12. It looked like the tide was turning Hamburg’s way as the western New York team scored consecutive tries in the 40th and 43rd minute to tie the match at 26 points. 

With the championship in the balance, the Harvey ruggers dug deep, determined not to wilt under pressure.  In the 46th minute, the forwards, led by Christian Harrington, Kieran O’Connor and Jay Handler, pressured the Hamburg pack. The ball found Harvey’s backs and the efforts of inside-center Feldman were rewarded as he touched down to regain the lead. Seven minutes later, Harrington gave the Cavaliers some breathing room as he crashed through the Hamburg defense to find points and increase Harvey’s lead to 12 points. 

Hamburg would not quit and responded with some nice forward movement to score with 10 minutes remaining to cut the lead to one try at 38-31. When Harvey’s forwards captured the kickoff and put heavy pressure on Hamburg, Artuso found a gap and touched down with seven minutes remaining.

With victory in Harvey’s grasp, the Cavaliers buckled down on defense and Feldman, Harrington, Rob Palladino and Mahopac High School freshman Kole Dokaj thwarted any forward movement by Hamburg. Harvey closed the match and sealed the victory with a try in the 67th minute by junior reserve forward Bradley Fennel to cap the scoring. 

Coach Lazzaro was ecstatic. “The effort and display of high level rugby was amazing. The crowd support was phenomenal all weekend and the support helped the boys throughout the match. We witnessed an amazing and memorable season and I cannot wait to start training to defend our state title.” 

Harvey finishes the season with 11 wins and only three losses.