SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – A second-half surge propelled the American International College men's rugby team to a big lead, and the Yellow Jackets were able to hold on for a 29-24 Liberty Rugby Conference win over Dartmouth College on Sunday, September 22.

AIC is 3-0 overall and in LRC play.

The Big Green controlled the first ten minutes of play, and drew a penalty inside AIC territory. Luke Morrow's kick missed wide, however. 

Undeterred, Dartmouth continued to pressure, and ultimately Jon Jafarnia pulled a maul over the line with the ball in his hands, putting down for the game's first try at 8:03. Morrow's conversion hit its target this time, giving Dartmouth a 7-0 lead.

The score remained that way for most of the half, as both teams came close only to take penalties or lose the ball to stout defense; finally, AIC broke its shutout on a penalty late against Darmouth that German Rossi kicked through at 35:23 to cut the gap to 7-3. 

Out of halftime, AIC's offense erupted. Kahanu Koi caught a pass from the right side to the left sideline and busted past the Dartmouth defenses, angling back into the middle of the try zone at 3:40, and Rossi's conversion put the Yellow Jackets up 10-7. Four minutes later, the Big Green had the ball and lost it as Ivan Rossi ripped it away and flipped it to Koi, who dove into the try zone; German Rossi converted again to give AIC an advantage of 17-7.

The Big Green were stunned, but collected themselves, and Jamie Phillips put Dartmouth back on the board at the 14:46 mark, self-starting off of an AIC penalty and busting through. Morrow's conversion cut AIC's edge back down to three.

AIC regained possession by winning a lineout away from Dartmouth, and turned it into seven points. The Yellow Jackets worked the ball from left to right about 30 yards out before German Rossi cut up the field, splitting through the defenses and dodging his way into the try zone at the 19:11 mark. AIC's captain converted as well to restore the double-digit lead.

Five minutes later, the team's on-field leader was the center of another score. The Yellow Jackets drew a penalty deep in Dartmouth territory, and the elder Rossi lined up for a kick. Surprisingly, he missed, bouncing it off the right post. However, the ball bounded right to the Yellow Jackets, and Jo Roberts put down in the corner of the try zone at 25:21, putting the Yellow Jackets ahead 29-14.

Those points proved critical, as the Big Green used a size advantage to score two more tries in the maul, with Phillips ultimately touching down two tries in the last ten minutes of regulation. Both came on the left sideline edge of the field, however, and the conversion attempts on both did not go through.

With no time left, Dartmouth pushed deep into AIC territory once more, and the Yellow Jackets had to battle to keep the game from being leveled. The Big Green were within four yards of completing their comeback when the ball came free, and German Rossi kicked it forward downfield, where the final whistle blew to leave the Yellow Jackets with a 29-24 win. 

AIC returns to action Saturday, September 28 at Syracuse University.