 Atlantic Coast Rugby League Co-Players of the Year - Trevor Tanifum (left) and Amir Khan (right) University of Maryland fullback Trevor Tanifum and University of North Carolina inside center Amir Khan are the 2012 Atlantic Coast Rugby League Co-Players of the Year as voted on by the conference’s coaches. This is the second consecutive year that players from these two teams shared the honor. Tanifum, a senior, and Khan, a junior, tied for the conference lead in tries with 9 apiece. Tanifum also took on much of Maryland’s kicking duties after Cima was lost for the year to an injury early in conference play. Both players boasted multiple multi-try games and were integral to their teams’ success. Tanifum’s importance to the Terrapins was underscored when he was injured last week in practice and was unavailable for Maryland’s national playoff game against Tennessee. His absence was clearly noticeable, as the Terps lost to the Volunteers, a team they had beaten earlier in the season with Tanifum on the field. Khan, meanwhile, capped off his stellar season by being selected to play for the USA Rugby South Men’s All-Star side that will play the Bermuda national team next weekend in Atlanta. Other award winners were Dan Collins from Clemson, who took home Freshman of the Year honors and Patrick Kane from Wake Forest who was voted the conference Coach of the Year. A product of the famed Gonzaga high school program in Washington, DC, Collins excelled at hooker for the Tigers before a slew of injuries forced the coaching staff to move him to the flyhalf position. The Tigers proceeded to finish the season on a 5 game winning streak with Collins running the team in the number 10 jersey. Kane, in his eighth year at the helm of Wake Forest, lead the Demon Deacons to a 4-3 record and fourth place conference finish after the team was picked to finish seventh in the coaches’ preseason poll. Maryland and Clemson, who finished first and second respectively in the conference, led all teams in All-Conference players with eight apiece. Wake Forest was close behind with seven honorees. Maryland’s Matias Cima, last year’s Co-Player of the Year, was named Honorable Mention despite missing the majority of the season with a hamstring injury; a testament to the respect the coaches around the league have for his talent. Cima will be playing for the United States U-20 team this summer. In keeping with its member schools’ emphasis on academics, the conference again named an All-Academic team, with one player from each school represented. Wake Forest’s Brandon Turner and North Carolina State’s Brandon Mosiman were repeat All-Academic performers. Turner was the recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship this year and will attend Oxford in the fall, while Mosiman has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA at NC State over four years while majoring in mechanical engineering. A full list of the 2012 Atlantic Coast Rugby League All-Conference Teams and Award Winners is below. 2012 ACRL Co-Players of the Year: Amir Khan, UNC and Trevor Tanifum, Maryland 2012 ACRL Freshman of the Year: Dan Collins, Clemson 2012 Coach of the Year: Patrick Kane, Wake Forest 2012 All-ACRL First Team Prop- Abe Harmon, NCSU Prop- Tanner Hall, GT Hooker-Alek Belokepetov, UNC Lock- Christian Gutowski, Wake Forest Lock- Spencer Hutchinson, Clemson Lock- Ron Pelkey, Virginia Tech Loose Forward- Brendan Shea, Wake Forest Loose Forward- Keith Sneddon, Maryland Loose Forward- Mic Minichiello, Virginia Tech Forward- Bill Whelan, Virginia Tech Forward- Matt Pace, NCSU Flyhalf/Hooker- Dan Collins, Clemson Scrumhalf-Tyler Thompson, Clemson Scrumhalf- Chris Curtin, UVA Flyhalf- Rob Kelly, Wake Forest Inside Center- Amir Khan, UNC Outside Center- Dan Hudgens, UNC Wing- Tyler Blaser, Clemson Wing/Fullback- Trevor Tanifum, Maryland Fullback- Johnny McMurray, Wake Forest Back- Evan Burch, UVA Back- John Davis, Maryland 2012 All-ACRL Honorable Mention Prop- Victor Ochy, Maryland Prop- Max Simons, Clemson Hooker- Kevin Hurley, Virginia Tech Hooker- Nate Young, Georgia Tech Hooker- Luna Mishoe, Maryland Lock- James Watson, Wake Forest Lock- Joseph Murphy, UVA Loose Forward- Matt Fetty, Clemson Loose Forward- Dylan Martin, NCSU Loose Forward- Tommy Evans, Clemson Scumhalf- Danny Pacious, Maryland Flyhalf- Matias Cima, Maryland Flyhalf- Dylan Cunningham, UNC Inside Center- Nolan Courvall, Clemson Inside Center- Matt Heitzer, Virginia Tech Outside Center- Ryan Tacon, Wake Forest Wing- Brandon Cree, Maryland Wing- Brandon Turner, Wake Forest Fullback- Stefan Friend, Clemson 2012 All-Academic Team Chris DiSanto, Clemson (Management, 3.72 GPA) Karl Sofinowski, Georgia Tech (Materials Science Engineering, 4.0) Drew Herpel, Maryland (Electrical Engineering, 3.96) Brandon Mosiman, North Carolina State (Mechanical Engineering, 4.0) Alek Belokepetov, UNC (Mathematics and Economics, 3.925) Brandon McMichael, Virginia Tech (Marketing, 3.7) Kevin McGrath, Virginia (Finance and Accounting, 3.77) Brandon Turner, Wake Forest (Biophysics, 3.89) Add Comment Maryland wins second title 04/22/2012
The University of Maryland has won its second Atlantic Coast Rugby League title and will now face SCRC runners-up, University of Tennessee in the USA Rugby D1AA National championships. They will clash with the Volunteers in the round of sixteen in Knoxville, Tennessee on Saturday 28th April. Although the league was very competitive again with seven of the eight teams all pushing Maryland hard (and in the case of NC State - beating them), the Terps were consistently the best team in the league and deserved their title. After nationals Maryland will be preparing for the Collegiate Rugby Championship in Philadelphia, Pa. Both Maryland and North Carolina State will be hoping to represent the league well on national television. Good luck to both the Terps and the Wolfpack. 2012 ACRL competition about to get under way 02/19/2012
With less than a week to go to the first round of Atlantic Coast Rugby League matches, the teams have been busy getting ready for what looks like being another exciting and closely fought conference. Next Saturday Wake Forest travel to Chapel Hill to play North Carolina, Georgia Tech take on Clemson in South Carolina, and Virginia Tech will make the trip to Raleigh to play North Carolina State. Wake Forest have prepared well, with two strong victories against Georgetown and Mary Washington in their pre-season and will be looking to start well against last years ACRL finalists. North Carolina had an average fall season but seem to be playing well again with a victory last week against Raeford and then a good performance in defeat against D1-AA top ten side Bowling Green yesterday. Georgia Tech are an unknown quantity. They struggled last year in the league and have only played one game in pre-season (Life University) which they lost heavily - no shame there! But they will be traveling to Clemson next weekend looking for an upset victory. Clemson are definite title contenders this year. They have several players who were not available last fall, a great recruiting class that are coming into their own and come off an impressive victory against Bowling Green. North Carolina State have again played alot of rugby in the pre-season as preparation to the league. Victories against Raleigh and Old Dominion, a draw against East Carolina and a loss against UNC-Wilmington will have them in good shape. Virginia Tech have had just one warm up game against the Virginia Military Institute which they won. The two teams not in league action next weekend will lock horns the following weekend in Charlottesville. Maryland continue their build up for a stab at back to back ACRL titles by playing St. Bonaventure. This comes on the heels of a close loss away to D1-A side Delaware - they lost in the last minutes of the game. Maryland are favorites for the ACRL again. The University of Virginia have also been impressive in pre-seson beating William and Mary and Georgetown. They are rebuilding after losing many Seniors last year but will still be a force in the league. Atlantic Coast Rugby League results will appear on this website and on our Facebook Page 
Maryland are favorites to retain the Atlantic Coast Rugby League title according to the coaches poll. All eight were asked to predict what they thought the ACRL table would look like by 22nd April 2012. Maryland were top with Virginia Tech close behind, and last year's beaten finalists North Carolina were in third. This is how the voting went: 1. Maryland 2. Virginia Tech 3. North Carolina 4. Clemson 5. Virginia 6. NC State 7. Wake Forest 8. Georgia Tech Maryland finished the fall season with a record of 2-1 which included an impressive win against Tennessee and a loss against perennial D2 powerhouse Salisbury. They have retained the core of their championship winning team and are led by 2011 ACRL Co-player of the year Matias Cima. Maryland have been invited to the CRC Sevens tournament in Philadelphia next June - preparation for this will make them an even stronger team in the ACRL. Virginia Tech also finished the fall 2-1 with wins against an under-strength Clemson and UNC-Wilmington. Their one loss was on the road against Tennessee. Last years favorites could only manage a 3-3 record in 2011. "Although we only lost by a couple of points in each of those games, we seriously underperformed when it mattered," said Virginia Tech Head Coach Andy Richards. "We've learned from last year's experience and are a better team because of it," he continued. The Hokies are led by Senior Center Matt Heitzer. North Carolina has lost most of its team from last year and have been inconsistent this fall. Despite having a 2-2 record they have still shown they can play some good rugby. Coach Pete Earsman said, "Losing all those seniors at once has hurt but we are hoping to train hard over the winter and come out ready to compete in the spring." Clemson have recruited heavily, and have several players returning to the team from studies abroad. Their 2-3 fall record does not reflect their true potential and they could be challenging for the title in the spring. Virginia are another team that lost most of its team from last year but have very good strength in depth and have also picked up a strong recruiting class. They played Tennessee close at home this fall showing they will still be a team to be reckoned with in the ACRL North Carolina State could be forgiven for concentrating on the inaugural USA Rugby Collegiate Sevens championship in December with half an eye on the CRC in Philadelphia next June. But as their 3-2 record this fall shows, they will be hard to beat in the spring. Sevens skills transfer to fifteens and if any team thinks they are just good at the shortened version of the game will be in for a shock. Wake Forest were competitive throughout last years ACRL campaign and have built on that team. A strong set of forwards that can win good ball with some quick backs and an attitude to run the ball will have some teams in trouble next spring despite being placed 7th in the coaches poll. Senior Ben Cohen will provide the leadership at fly-half and newly announced Rhodes scholar Brandon Turner will provide the pace on the wing. Georgia Tech have clearly struggled in recent years and this is reflected in them being placed 8th in the poll. But the program is on firm ground and has good leadership and coaching. Visiting teams would be well advised not to take a trip to Atlanta lightly. The 2012 ACRL league schedule is posted and kicks off on Saturday 25th February with Wake Forest visiting North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Clemson take on Georgia Tech in Atlanta and Virginia Tech make the journey to Raleigh to play NC State. The winner of the ACRL will play in the USA Rugby Division 1-AA national championships round of 16 on 28th April. 
Wake Forest Senior Brandon Turner has been awarded the Rhodes scholarship. Brandon, a two-time North Carolina Collegiate Rugby All-Star, a USA Rugby South U-20 All-Star, a member of the 2011 ACRL All-Academic team and recipient of the Wake Forest Rugby Marcum Scholarship, was named one of the 32 national recipients of the Rhodes Scholarship. Brandon will now pursue a master's in global public health at Oxford University in 2012-2013, where he will hopefully continue his rugby career as well. Rugby Mag Division One All Star team 05/24/2011
North Carolina's Alex lee was the sole ACRL representative to be selected for the Rugby Mag All Star team. Congratulations Alex. http://www.rugbymag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=969:rugbymag-names-di-mens-all-americans&catid=48:mens-di-college&Itemid=208weeblylink_new_window Maryland scored 23 unanswered points in the 2nd half to beat Temple 28-15 for the D1 Consolation match in Bowling Green. Round of Eight matches Bowling Green 21 Florida 18 UC Santa Barbara 0 Stanford 0 Davenport 44 Kansas State 5 Harvard 20 Buffalo 18 Men's Division One Nationals - Results 04/30/2011
Maryland were comprehensively beaten today in the Round of 16 by Florida 57-16, in Bowling Greeen, Ohio. Florida will now play hosts Bowling Green State who also easily won their game against Temple. Complete results: Bowling green 64 Temple 5 Florida 57 Maryland 16 Oregon State 24 UC Santa Barbara 41 Stanfiord 33 Northern Colorado 12 Davenport 27 Minnesota 0 Kansas State 10 Texas State 6 Northeastern 0 Harvard 15 Southern Connecticut 5 Buffalo 14 Virginia Tech versus NC State 04/29/2011
Virginia Tech beat NC State tonight in Blacksburg by 36-10. The game was rescheduled having been cancelled due to severe weather. Maryland will take on South Champions Florida in the round of Sixteen at Bowling Green, Ohio on Saturday 30th April at 2pm. The winners will then get to play either Bowling Green or Temple on Sunday. http://www.rugbyamerica.org/2011/04/28/division-i-mens-collegiate-round-of-16-kicks-of-tomorrow/ | ArchivesApril 2012 Categories |
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