SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - Tied 12-12 near the midpoint of the first half, the American International College men's rugby team rattled off 45 straight points over the next 41 minutes of play and ultimately defeated Harvard University 76-19 in Liberty Rugby Conference play on Sunday, October 5.

AIC is now 4-1 overall and 4-1 in the LRC.

Filimone Manu scored the game's first try in the fifth minute after AIC took advantage of a miscue in the back line of the Crimson. Less than seven minutes later, Demitrius Ta'ape put the ball down in Harvard's try zone, and German Rossi converted, giving the Yellow Jackets a 12-0 lead.

The Crimson turned the tide in the next 10 minutes, grabbing the ball back as AIC knocked on the kickoff following its try, and Huntley Masterson scored off of a maul on a lineout just shy of the 15-minute mark, with Dan Erasmus converting. Six minutes later, the Crimson did it again; this time, Nick Torres touched down for a try from a maul after a lineout, though Erasmus missed wide right on his kick this time, leaving the game tied. 

AIC suddenly faced a game that had turned from a runaway into a dogfight, but the Yellow Jackets were up to the task. Max Erasmus broke the tie with a drive into the try zone in the 28th minute, and Rossi hit the tough-angled kick to put AIC back in the lead. Seven minutes later, Axel Strasser scored another front-row try, and Rossi converted again. As time ran low, Ta'ape ran the ball into the try zone again, flipping it to Rocco Burdett to put it down right between the goal posts with barely a minute left. Rossi easily nailed this kick too, and AIC led the stunned Crimson 33-12 at halftime.

The period change hardly slowed AIC; right out of the gate, Erasmus scored another for the Yellow Jackets. Rossi then called his own number, breaking for a try in the 54th minute and converting. Augusto Arguello then scored near the midpoint of the half, with Rossi converting again, and Juan Mateo Carrazana put down his first of the contest three minutes after that.

The Crimson did break the run with a hard-fought Christian Kauhane try and Erasmus conversion in the 66th minute, but AIC's bench held firm from there. Carrazana added another try, and D.J. Ta'ape and Ivan Rossi did as well, with each Rossi netting one more conversion over the final 13 minutes for the 76-19 final.

AIC returns home next Saturday, October 11 at 5:00 p.m. to face Brown University.