OLEAN, N.Y. -- The Notre Dame College men's rugby team opened their season with a trip to St. Bonaventure for the first official match of the season, on Saturday. The Falcons were in control of the first half, having 62-percent of the possession and entering the opposition 22-meter area on four occasions. The Falcons were farming on the opposing line but a couple of handling errors and two turnovers close to the line relieved pressure for the Bonnies. St. Bonaventure took the single opportunity that they had and scored and converted a try within the first half, going up 7-0. A late cross-field kick by Flyhalf Lachlan McDonald and a relentless chase by Xavier Allen led to the Allen finally crossing the try line for the Falcons. The halftime score was 7-5.
 
The second half kicked off with bang as the Falcons once again made four visits to the opposition 22 area, but turning up scoreless. The Bonnies started to claw their way back with two successful penalty kicks, whereas the Falcons had missed their two penalty goals in the first half. With the Bonnies being up 13-5, captain Hugh Johnston straightened the line off of a lineout play, beating three defenders on and dotted over in the corner. The match ended 13-10 in the favor of the Bonnies. The Falcons took a lot of positives from this fixture as they focus on converting opportunities to points. The Falcons will be looking to capitalize on opportunities as they prepare to host Army at home on the 24th of September.
 
The Falcons would also like to congratulate new players – Remy Thomson, Killian Burns and Mathew Cooper on the First XV debut. The coaching staff is also proud to announce that Clemente Aguirre, Francois Jouan, Haniel Fanka, Tyler Pirc, Wiaan Herbst and Angel Marerro all made their debut for the 2nd XV.