RANDALL’S ISLAND, NY -- March 14, 2026
A wide pitch and a dominant back line helped propel the Xavier Knights over the Friars of St. Anthony’s High School 91-7. “We hit the ground running quite nicely,” said Xavier’s head coach, Greg Norris, “and we moved the ball exceptionally well on a wide pitch. Clean passing helped our speed and wide movement, and that really benefitted us tonight.”
Man-of-the-Match and right Wing Leonardo Heyman ‘27 began the scoring effort just a minute into the game. Heyman scored a second try a few minutes later and would add two more tries to the haul before the match was over. “It feels great,” Heyman said of his four tries, “but it was just great being with my brothers on the field, helping to set them up with scoring opportunities.”
Norris noted that support runs were the key to the match for the Knights. “The support runs impressed me. When we had line breaks, we flowed through really well with good on-field communication. Controlling the pace of the game was important. It allowed us try the things we’ve been working on in training.”
📸 Mike LiVigni
Xavier's scoring came fast and furious throughout the match, with loosehead prop Robert Milacci ‘26 and fly-half Cole Wallace ‘27 each scoring two tries. Scrum-half Justin Landberg ‘26, left-wing Ethan Mok ‘26, second-row Travis Peterson ‘26, inside-center Brady Boyle ‘27, tight-head prop Ethan Almonte ‘26, number eight Owen Madden ‘27, and hooker Lucas “Jinxy” Niccolay each scoring one try. Fly-half Ian Lafferty ‘26 was good for five conversion kicks in the first half, while scrum-half Robert Strehle ‘27 was good for three conversion kicks in the second half.
In their first match of the year, St. Anthony’s struggled to find their footing against the Knights, but avoided a shutout with a breakaway try in the 52nd-minute of the match by scrum-half Memphis Chase ‘28. John Drew ‘26 was good for the two-point conversion on Chases’s try. “I thought St. Anthony's did a good job at offloading whenever they got the ball in hand,” said Assistant Coach Ski Bailey, “and as the season goes on, they're going to have some good offensive weapons.”
“Today was a really good win, and I want to give a shout-out to Saint Anthony's for their no-quit play. This was a league game, so the win was very important for our season and for our state ranking.”
Despite the win, Allison noted that the team is going to keep working hard to improve. “We definitely have to work on our scrum defense,” Allison said, “that is a big hole right now. If we get that patched, we can have a good run. But there are lots of things working for us right now, like our pod shape and our general offensive shape.” Cole Wallace agreed and added, “ I think we played great all around, but there are things to improve, and we'll get better.”