2011

2011 was another successful season for Greenwich Rugby. The team was productively led by captains Francis Ambrogio and Adam Peterson. The program had new leadership with head coach Joe Kelly stepping into the very large shoes left by retiring head coach Steve Lapham. Other changes brought us a new JV coach Luke Gawronski who took on all challenges as if he has been doing it for years. The backbone and the go to guy for the coaching staff was 10 year veteran coach John Porter. Without his contributions the season might not have gone as well. Let’s not overlook the contributions of coach Dennis Schmeiler. Game day, New Rochelle was our first game and a game we traditionally win. The pressure was on the new coach and the seniors and both were up to the task, Greenwich 34 – New Rochelle 22. Our starting seniors Matt Acosta, Francis Ambrogio, Sam Brown, Mark Kelley, Jon McEvoy, Adam Peterson, Connor Stapleton, and Jeff Wilson played great this game and throughout the season. We then managed to overcome Keio, 35-19 only to reach some stiff Canadian opposition in Washington DC at the Cherry Blossom Tournament. The team had a close loss to Innisdale High School, 9-13, a win over State College High, 13-3. Then the team played a game we should have won, but didn’t, losing to Banting Memorial, 3-6. We came home to beat Darien 49-19, and Canada’s Rotheshay 86-5. Xavier, the national champs, were too tough to handle this year with a 7-65 loss. Fairfield High went down 40-26 as did Fairfield Prep, 48-29. We once again qualified for the Northeastern championship, at West Point. Our confidence was high but we fell short on the day. The boys won on the field, but McQuaid beat us on the scoreboard, 17-38 was the final score. Our next match was Simsbury, a 54-5 win. Sunday May 29th was the State Championships and the Cardinals were ready. We stormed through the tournament as if we were on a mission beating Cheshire 26-5, then Staples 17-0. We were on to the finals to steamroll Fairfield Prep 28-7 and take the State Championship. Our B team also took the first ever B team State Championship earlier in the day to cap a great season all around. This year former head Coach is being inducted into the Greenwich Rugby Hall of Fame.