Our men were able to get on the scoreboaard early with Jaden Cusprinie '26 dotting down the first try of the match at the 7th minute mark. This was followed up with Ryan Masten '27 capping off strong defensive pressure with toeing the ball over the goal line and touching down at the 18th minute. At the 32nd minute, Johnny Rizdy '28 was able to finish off a well worked move from the line-out. All three tries were converted by John Rovente '27. SUNY Buffalo State was able to capitalize on a tough yellow card for NU with a try of their own bringing the first half score to Niagara 21 and SUNY Buffalo State 5.

SUNY Buffalo State came out firing in the second half looking to increase the physicality of the match, but our men remained composed and put in two more tries with Rizdy dotting down his second of the game at the 52nd minute and then Charlie Marzec '26 crashed over the white wash at the 65th minute. Rovente would convert one of these tries and add a penalty kick for good measure. SUNY Buffalo State was resilient and made a push at the end of the match putting in a couple of tries of their own. However, the Purple Eagles were not to be stopped on their new pitch as they fought hard to close out the match with an impressive 36-20 victory.

With the win against SUNY Buffalo State in the books, the men turn their attention to SUNY Brockport for the Lake Effect Conference Championship. Although we were successful in the match against SUNY Brockport just over ten days ago, the men will remain hungry for the opportunity as SUNY Brockport is coming off a strong win in their semi-final match on the road over SUNY Geneseo.

We have tentatively schedule the Lake Effect Conference Championship for Saturday, November 9, at 2pm at the Niagara University Rugby Field against SUNY Brockport. We look forward to seeing everyone there!