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Dominant Performance Grants Rugby Cats a Large Win over St. Xavier

By Joe Ginley, 04/21/18, 7:15PM EDT

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Alex Chura scored a hat trick for the Wildcats

Following a lengthy trip overseas and a tough match against the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Head Coach Dan Arbeznik '00 decided to give his men some time off.

Fully recuperated and rested, the Saint Ignatius A-side rugby team looked as powerful as ever on Saturday.

The Rugby Cats mowed through the St. Xavier Bombers, 75-0, at Wasmer Field on Saturday afternoon.  

The game began with some sloppy play on both sides, likely due in part to St. Xavier's 4-hour trip and Saint Ignatius' rust from not playing a game in nine days. Each team missed passes and committed errors, leading to a number of knock-ons.

But halfway through the first, the Wildcats became laser-focused and went to work. Nick Zolikoff exploited an opening in the Bombers' line, sprinting a full 30 yards for the first try of the day. Declan Boldy then hit his first of many conversions for a 7-0 lead.

The Wildcats opened up a scoring frenzy with 11 minutes remaining in the half. Jivan Meguerditchian fought tooth and nail to the "whitewash" near the sideline to increase the lead to double digits. A nifty pass from Juan Pen to Alex Chura led to another try just two minutes later, placing the score at 21-0 after 2 points off a Boldy kick.

The connection between Pen and Chura, former Our Lady of Angels teammates and future mates at St. Bonaventure University next fall, paid off in the sweet try. 

"I was talking with Juan before the kickoff, and I said, 'Geez, I'm not getting the ball enough.' Juan said, 'Line up with me on the wing and we'll try to do something.' Sure enough, we line up, and we have space," said Chura. "I give it to him on the outside, and he's bigger than everyone. The other guys went low and Juan tossed it to me high."

The scoring continued with Mike Mangan pounding it in and Chura capitalizing on a magnificent Boldy kick to complete the first half. Two more Boldy conversions set the margin at 35 entering the break. 

A well-executed series of offloads ending with Mangan led to a nice try for the Rugby Cats to start the second. Juan Pen added to the advantage with a hard-nosed try to set the score at 49-0 Wildcats.

Arbeznik gradually instituted substitutions, both young hosses and savvy vets. Players such as Ricky Rose, Michael Volpe, Xavier Everett, and Andrew Boldy checked into the game for the Wildcats, helping to continue the dominant effort. 

The tries kept coming, as Tommy Lavelle, Meguerditchian, and Chura increased the lead to 70-0 with the clock inching to zeros. Nathan Speelman placed the final exclamation point on the win with a try in the final minute, placing the final margin at 75-0. Declan Boldy missed the final conversion to just miss trying his previous record of 11 conversions in a game. Still, 10-of-11 conversions is nothing to sneer at. 

With the win, the Rugby Cats advanced to 6-3 on the season. The victory certainly boosts the club's confidence and served as a great opportunity to patch up the team's play. 

"We had a lot of things to fix since our last game," said Chura, who finished with a hat trick of tries. "I think we did a good job getting back and fixing it up. We'll still focus on getting the ball to our backs more so our forwards aren't doing as much work."

The Wildcats will have another chance to work on these improvements and others on Tuesday. The Brunswick Blue Devils will visit Wasmer Field at 6 pm, following Senior Night festivities honoring the Rugby Cats' outstanding group of seniors and young men.