SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College men's rugby team closed the 2025 regular season with a nail-biting 33-27 Liberty Rugby Conference win against Fairfield University on Friday, October 31.

AIC is now 6-2 overall and in LRC play.

The crowd was treated to some early scoring, as Max Erasmus put in the game's first try in the seventh minute for AIC, and Charlie Thomison scored a penalty kick just two minutes later. 

However, from there it was stout defense that ruled the next 20 minutes of play until AIC broke through again. Demitrius Ta'ape put home a try in the 31st minute, and Mateo Carrazana followed barely a minute later, with German Rossi converting both. Archer Fenton did answer in the 34th minute with a try for Fairfield, leaving AIC ahead 19-8 at the break.

The start of the second half was a Halloween horror for the first 13 minutes for the AIC defense, as the Stags unleashed an offensive onslaught that saw John Bennett, Thomas Morales, and Michael Fitzgerald score tries in a 5:45 span from the 47th through 53rd minutes, with two conversions to flip the lead Fairfield's way, 27-19.

But the Yellow Jackets refused to be denied. Erasmus scored in the 63rd minute and Rossi converted to pull AIC back within a point, and Ta'ape put the finishing touches on a great offensive push by the Yellow Jackets in the 72nd minute, scoring his second of the game to retake the lead. Rossi's conversion provided a six-point margin, and that stood as AIC handled business down the stretch despite a late yellow card.

AIC now awaits the remaining games across National Collegiate Rugby to be completed before learning its fate as far as postseason play; games are still to be played through Friday, November 7, and information will be shared once it is available both on aicyellowjackets.com and on departmental and team social media accounts.