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Mystic River Rugby started off their summer 7s season with a bang beating rival Boston 7-5 in the final match to win the elite division trophy in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The day began with a tough loss to Boston 41-12 despite strong periods of play from the top Mystic team. It was the Mystics first chance to play 7’s this summer, and breaks in the defensive structure were exposed. The only hope was to tighten things up, win out the rest of the day, and look for another shot at Boston.

The Mystic 2’s led by Captain Bobby Ankenbauer started the day with a loss of their own then replied with two straight wins, knocking off Middlesex 2’s 35-12 and then the Nairobi Exiles in the semi’s 26-7. They finished in style, with a sound win over Springfield 21-5 in the finals to take home the Plate trophy.

Meanwhile, strong play from the Mystic 1st team led by Captain Evin O’Driscoll allowed them to blow through the rest of the competition. The Boston Irish Wolfhounds easily fell 24-0, and New Haven took the worst of it 31-5.

The Mystics now faced the very same Boston team in the Elite level finals who had beaten them in the first game by a wide margin.

But the final was quite a different story. O’Driscoll, O'Mahony, Gavin Dunne and David Barry led a strong defensive effort. Still, Boston took the lead at halftime 5-0.

With only minutes to go a huge attack involving several Mystics led to a ruck just outside the Boston tryline. Brendan Waight picked up quickly and dove over in the corner. Dunne’s touchline conversion put Mystic up 7-5 and they held on from there.

Next up is the Northeast qualifier tournament in Springfield, MA for a chance to get through to US Nationals in San Francisco in August.