Rugby News

On a picture-perfect October Saturday, six decades of Union County Mudturtles came together for the annual Friends and Family Day.  The Mudturtles faithful, numbering in the hundreds, turned out to cheer on as the home teams swept the three games on the schedule.

In the first contest, a combination of Union’s second side and Old Boys climbed out of an early hole and held on to win 31-29. The opposition, a motley assortment of Old Boys from several teams dubbed the New Jersey Barbarians, jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead. But the depth and speed of the Union side proved too much in the end.  Tristan Herrod, Melvin Green, Ish Collado, Bryce Shipman and Juan Bravo all scored for Union. Herrod garnered Back of the Match honors, while Matt Bianchini was the Forward of the Match.

In game two, the Lady Mudturtles opened up their season by hosting Queens and showed no signs of rust. Union took control of the game from the outset and cruised to a 76-12 victory. The Lady Mudturtles displayed great playmaking and line support throughout the game to give head coach Tim Stroever his first career win. The Forward of the Match was Zhakeya Jackson, the Back of the Match was Andrea Kuruc and the Ninja Turtle was first time player Bridget Penaranda.

In the finale, the Men’s A-side scored early and often in a 107-7 victory over Princeton Athletic Club. Fullback Miguel Rizarri opened the scoring in the early minutes and eight other Mudturtles found the try zone throughout the match. Wing Julian Caceres led the way with six trys, while Rizarri, Alex Bianchini and Sebastian Mayorga each scored twice. The Mudturtle defense was again stellar, led by Tom Ross, Tom DeRosa and Charlie Blessing, allowing very few positive plays for the game PAC squad. Johan Figuerido was the Back of the Match, and DeRosa was selected as the Forward of the Match. 

In all, it was a great day for the UCRFC family. Thank you to the NJ Barbarians, Queens and PAC for helping us celebrate!