Mystic River U19 Argentina Tour Raffle Ticket Winners

Happy New Year Mystic Nation! As we're welcomed by 2018 with open arms, preparing to dust off the boots and get back to Pine Banks for a year full of Mysticism, the club's opening competition this year will be in another country.  That's right!  Mystic River's U19 program is planning a tour to Argentina in February!

Aside from the Annual Mystic River Collegiate Select XV Tour to Montreal, Mystic River hasn't toured since the U19s went to Ireland in 2016 for the third time in the program's history.  This will be the club's first time back in Argentina since the men's side toured in 1987. Over the last several weeks, Mystic River Rugby Club has been selling raffle tickets to help curb some of the expenses necessary to travel to South America.  Firstly, we want to give a special thank you to the McNamee, Rudzinsky, Sullivan & Wing families, as well as TheBriar Group for their generous raffle prize donations. The drawing was held on Saturday, January 6th at Yogurt Beach in Newton.  Results are as follows:

1. 3 New England Patriots 1st Round Playoff Tickets & a $200 Dinner Gift Card - Bruce Tarricone

2. 2 Boston Celtics vs. Brooklyn Nets Tickets on 4/11/18 & a $100 Dinner Gift Card - Maureen Perroni

3. Weekend trip to North Woodstock, NH townhouse (May to mid-October, 2018) - Patricia Tretiak

4. 4 Boston Bruins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Tickets on 3/19/18 - John Pace

5. $200 - Pedro Diaz

Thank you to everyone that bought a raffle ticket to support Mystic River's U19 side for their 2018 Argentina Tour. Over the next few weeks, there will be lots of news surrounding Mystic River events, such as the Annual Mystic River Winter Party, the release of Mystic's D1 & D2 schedules, the Mystic River Canterbury Online Store (closing 

1/15/18

) and much more! Thanks again to everyone for answering the call to action and showing exactly why Mystic River Rugby Club is a family! Go Blue!

ARP falls short to Old Blue, Barbarians remain undefeated

This past weekend, Mystic River hosted Newport and Old Blue in a NERFU-ARP doubleheader at Pine Banks. Mystic’s D2 side last saw Newport in the playoffs, where the Barbarians squeaked out a 31-25 victory, crowning them NERFU champs. Two weeks ago, the ARP side dropped a tough match, 24-97, to Old Blue down in Randall’s Island, this time, hoping for a true home field advantage in their last meeting of the fall season.

With long-time Mystic sponsors Canterbury presenting the match, fans lined the sidelines in their official Mystic River Rugby Club gear, and with a sea of blue on the sideline, the response to the Mystical atmosphere was almost instant, as wing Phil Baker-Coe found himself all alone off of a 5-meter scrum, allowing scrumhalf Adam Tafau to send him a pass for a quick try.Baker-Coe got the ball towards the middle of the posts and gave fullback Stephen “Dimo” Diamantopoulos an easier look at the posts, setting the score at 7-0.Newport then made some headway into the Mystic half, but turned the ball over, giving Mystic center Matt Dunleavy the space to survey the land in front of him, where he spotted a gap, split the defenders, and bolted for the posts on a 50-meter try.After another conversion from “Dimo,” and with the score at 14-0, Newport marched downfield and dotted one down in the corner, and despite the challenging angle of the kick, Newport cut the lead in half, making it 14-7.After some solid Mystic phaseplay, hooker Nick Roach took matters into his own hands, as he steamrolled his way across the goal line for another try, setting up another conversion for Diamantopoulos.With energy and angst, Newport fought their way back into Mystic’s half, and they eventually scored in the same corner as their first, but this time, it would remain a 2-score deficit after the missed conversion.At 21-12, Mystic knew they needed to put some more points on the board before Newport was given an opportunity to narrow the margin, and as the center duo of Dunleavy and Aaron Smith connected a few times in the same phase, it was Dunleavy who touched it down, heading into the half with Mystic up 26-12.

Mystic River came out hot in the second half, and off of a solid set piece, prop Matt Maloney found his way in for another 5, increasing their lead to 31-12.Newport, however, would not falter nor give up, and they quickly responded with a try under the posts of their own, closing the score back up to 31-19.After lots of back-and-forth play between the two sides, Mystic River found themselves on their back foot, and Newport saw the opportunity and took advantage by scoring another unconverted try.As the Barbarians did everything they could to prevent Newport from having a chance to tie the match up, their will and determination proved to be enough to seal the victory for Mystic, 31-24, starting the day off on a great note.

Following the first match of the day, Mystic’s ARP side took the field against Old Blue in a highly-touted match for the Monsters of Malden. With vengeance on their minds, Mystic stormed onto the pitch as flyhalf Brent Hamlin took it right to the Old Blue defense, giving a perfect inside ball to wing Dor Perl as he finished under the posts to set up an easy conversion for flanker Jon Kokinda.Drawing first blood in the match, Mystic found themselves back on defense, under pressure, until Old Blue found their way in to tie it up, 7-7.Upon the restart and after a few phases, Old Blue was penalized, so Kokinda stood the ball up on the turf and split the uprights to give back the lead to Mystic River, 10-7.It wasn’t before long when Mystic wound up receiving two yellow cards from lock Sean Burgess and flanker John Sullivan, one of which Old Blue was in range to take the points and even up the score again, at 10-10.Down two men for several minutes, Mystic River couldn’t hold the elusive Old Blue offense out of the end zone, eventually getting to 10-38.Back at even strength, wing John Spooney found some space after Hamlin sailed a pass 30 meters, springing Spooney free for a try right before the half.

At 15-38, Mystic River looked like they got their second wind, coming out of the half with some hard defense.After some back-and-forth possession, Old Blue looked to spring the ball wide, but Burgess was shown a red card, putting the Monsters of Malden down one Monster for the remainder of the match. Old Blue didn’t take long to touch one down to make the score 15-45, but on their next opportunity to score, they knocked the ball on, giving Mystic back some hope.Fired up, Old Blue had two men sent to the sin bin and things got a bit testy on the pitch. But after very even play, no one could take advantage of the shortage of players, until Old Blue found their opportunity and made sure to capitalize one last time, setting the score at 15-52.Playing for the Gull on their chests, Mystic made sure they finished strong, as wing Mike Spiro got involved after taking a cross kick and hitting the explosive center Vini Daley, to watch him do the rest as he took it in for 5.Mystic made sure that 20-52 was not the end result, and Hamlin made his way across for the final points of the match after impact subs Gianni Miceli and Thomas Thekaekara set a solid platform after two great offensive phases.Despite the effort of Mystic River, they came up a bit short on the scoreboard, as the game ended at 25-52, in favor of Old Blue.

Mystic River’s ARP side travels to Marietta, Georgia to take on the Life ETG Running Eagles, with the kickoff set for 2 PM ET.Mystic’s D2 Barbarians will be playing Amoskeag in Manchester, NH in another NERFU matchup, trying to extend their perfect record.

Barbarians Continue to Storm, Division 1 Falls to NYAC

A couple weekends ago, Mystic River Rugby Club hosted Worcester & NYAC for the first doubleheader of the season.Mystic River’s Division 2 Barbarian side hosted Worcester RFC in their first meeting since the spring playoff match in Worcester, where the Barbarians stood triumphant after 100 minutes of rugby, 34-20.With redemption in the hearts & minds of Worcester, Mystic showed up knowing that there was a target on their back.Following the Worcester matchup, which included a B-side showdown, Mystic River’s ARP side took to the pitch opposite ARP-rival, NYAC.The last time these two teams had met was also a spring playoff match, in the Elite 8 in Pittsburgh, where Mystic was defeated 14-32.

Mystic’s D2 Barbarians stormed the pitch and took immediate control, as center Mikey Rudzinsky split a gap, blowing by a couple defenders on his way across the line, centering the ball for any easy conversion from fullback Stephen Diamantopoulos.With the score 7-0, Mystic continued to apply pressure, as scrum half Adam Tafau had a quick take off the back of a ruck, showing his quickness & speed with a 22-meter try.Diamantopoulos converted the kick, and with the score at 14-0, Mystic had no plans to take the foot off the pedal.Mystic drove back downfield, and after spotting the overlap, moved the ball through hands, ending with a try from 8 man Alex Appel in the corner.With the score at 19-0, Worcester found themselves in Mystic’s territory for the first time, until Mystic’s defensive prowess resulted in a poached ball from flyhalf Nick Vettese, then making its way through the hands to wing Aki Raymond who dusted the Worcester defense for another try under the posts, making it easy to convert for Diamantopoulos.Worcester responded to the 26-0 deficit, and after taking advantage of several Mystic penalties, they found themselves over the line for the first time of the match, narrowing the gap, 26-5.Raymond wasn’t done making his presence known, as he caught the ball with just enough space to turn the defender inside out and dash down the sideline for another long try, making it 31-5, Mystic.Worcester drove the ball into Mystic territory, and after several penalties and ultimately, a Mystic River yellow card, they managed to dot one down, closing the margin, 31-10 heading into the half.

Mystic came out of halftime guns-a-blazing, as Raymond burst off the hip of Rudzinsky, going untouched under the posts for a converted try.With Mystic still down a man, they continued to apply pressure both defensively and offensively, driving the ball deep into Worcester territory where center Aaron Smith found wing John Spooney on the width, giving him enough space to fly by the defense and center the ball under the posts, allowing Mystic to extend the lead, 45-10.Spooney dotted down another one after he received an errant pass near midfield and cut through Worcester’s defense untouched, resulting in another converted try.With the score at 52-10, Mystic had no plan to slow down their attack, and after a Worcester turnover inside Mystic’s 5-meter line, the ball was shifted through hands to the width, landing in Raymond’s hands, where no one would catch him, setting up another easy conversion for Diamantopoulos to give Mystic the 59-10 lead.Worcester was still there to play rugby, however, and managed to sneak across the goal line with their first points of the 2nd half, making the score 59-17.Forward Nick “Beardo” St. Germain decided he wanted in on the scoring frenzy, as he masterfully took an inside ball for another converted try.66-17 wasn’t nearly enough for the Barbarians though, as Raymond knifed his way through the Worcester defense for his 5th try of the match, setting the score at 73-17.To end the match, center Matt Dunleavy found some space off of Smith’s hip, and made it easy for another conversion from Diamantopoulos.The final whistle was blown, and Mystic River’s D2 Barbarians found themselves victorious for a second week in a row, but this time, upping the ante and making a statement with the 80-17 result over Worcester.

The B-side took to the pitch against Worcester after the D2 match, and almost immediately, the forwards found themselves driving across Worcester’s goal line, putting Mystic up 5-0.Center KC Gordon found some space on his own, and managed to touch one down shortly after the first try, setting up an easy conversion for flyhalf John Daly.Dunleavy, taking the field for some more footy, broke the gain line and found himself under the posts with ease, setting up another Daly conversion, to make it 19-0.Scrumhalf Josh Marotske then called his own number, finishing the play in the corner of the endgoal, with a beautiful conversion from Daly to follow, setting the score at 26-0.Going into the half, Mystic’s B-side showed lots of energy, and they carried it right over into the 2nd half.

Daly found Dunleavy for a 30-meter try on a tight line from the center, extending the lead to 33 points.Forward Daryl Wilson then stormed his way through the Worcester defense, and changing his angle towards the ball carrier, Jon “Maddog” Tolen put the exclamation point on the play, allowing Mystic to put up another 7.At this point in the match, Dunleavy was hell-bent on fighting his way in for another 5, and sure enough, he capitalized the 50-meter line break and touched the ball down under the posts, making the score 47-0, where the match would end, setting the bar high for Mystic’s ARP side after the 2-0 start to the day.

Mystic’s ARP side took on the long-standing rival, NYAC.As possession changed hands for the first 20 minutes, Mystic found themselves in good field position to take advantage of a penalty, which was then converted by flanker Jon Kokinda.With injuries playing a large part in the match, NYAC played much of the first half in Mystic territory, finding themselves just short of scoring, until the final play of the half, where they were able to capitalize and take the lead, 3-7.

Coming out in the 2nd half, NYAC put up 3 unanswered tries, with a 4th to follow, putting them up, 3-33.Hooker Dana Corcoran then showed that his value off the bench was much-needed, as he tap-danced his way towards the goal line, flipping a backhanded-offload to center Adnan Kawuma for a try and a Kokinda conversion.With time ticking, and Mystic playing for the crest on their chest, flyhalf Brent Hamlin hit center Dimitri Efthimou on a hard line, giving Efthimou the space to stride it out for the final score of the match.NYAC came out on top, 15-33, giving Mystic River a tough game in tough conditions.

This past Saturday, Mystic River’s ARP team was away in Glendale, Colorado to play the Merlins, while the D2 Barbarians travelled to Albany, New York for another league match!Division 2 kicked off at 1 PM ET while the ARP side kicked off at 5 PM ET!Match reports coming!

Past & Future Schedule:

9/23 - D2 @ Albany - W 68-10

9/23 - ARP @ Glendale Merlins - L 7-64

9/30 (SAT) 1:00 PM - D2 vs. Portland

9/30 (SAT) 1:00 PM - ARP @ Old Blue

GO BLUE!!