The Neumann University Men's Rugby Club opened their 2018 Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference (MARC) season with a 34-19 win over the visiting Franklin & Marshall Diplomats on Saturday, September 15.   
 

Playing on their home pitch before an enthusiastic crowd, Miles Howard (Monsigner Bonner RFC) touched down the maiden try of the campaign for a 5-0 Knights lead. Soon after fellow former Friar Gaetano Quintiliani (Bonner), rumbled into the try zone and Emerson Phillips added the conversion for a 12-0 NU lead. The Diplomats added a try and conversion to close within five, 12-7, but continued pressure by the Neumann attack and solid defense paid off as Santino D'Angelo responded with his first of two trys and Nick Fallows also crossed the try line for a 24-7 advantage at half.
 

AJ DelleMonache added a second half try along with D'Angelo and a conversion by freshman Connor Gilden rounded out the Knight scoring. Jarod Kudish and Anthony Vaccaro added depth off the bench playing their first-ever rugby match. Chris Negro,Dan LaJudice and Mike Messina also saw their first fifteen-a-side action after joining the club during spring sevens.
 

Media United alums Sean Spence and freshman Dan Dumas were reunited in the Neumann pack to provide a punishing series of runs putting F&M on their back foot for much of the match.
 

The club will hit the road to square-off versus Bucknell University on Saturday, September 22. The club next returns to campus on October 13 to host PSU Berks on Alumni Day and during Neumann's Homecoming Festivities.