Playing for the right to appear in a state championship game is always a motivating factor for a team, but there’s even more incentive when its semifinal matchup is against an opponent that ended its season with a loss the previous year.

That’s exactly the scenario the Greenwich High School Varsity A boys rugby team found itself in last night, when Staples visited Cardinal Stadium for the Connecticut State Boys Rugby Tournament semifinals.

The Wreckers dashed the Cardinals’ hopes of winning the state title in 2022, soundly defeating Greenwich in the championship game in Westport, so GHS had extra motivation heading into last night’s matchup.

Victorious against Staples during the regular season, Greenwich quickly imposed its will on the Wreckers, rolling to a resounding 45-14 win in the semifinals of the Connecticut State Boys Rugby Tournament.

“Them beating us last year definitely rang loudly in our player’s ears,” Greenwich coach Mike Fina said. “I can’t tell you how many players reminded each other of that before the game, or in the circle before the game started. Staples-Greenwich is not one that a coach needs to talk about much to get the team excited for the game.”

The triumph catapulted the Cardinals into the championship game of the state tournament, which is scheduled for June 10 at Staples High School in Westport. The Cardinals will face Fairfield Prep in next weeks’ title game.

“It was a big win,” said Greenwich senior Lucas Luzuriaga, who helped ignite the Cardinals in the win. “It’s always nice to come out here and play our rivals. We knew it was going to be a good game, we made our home presence known and we took it to them.”

Greenwich scored the semifinal match’s first try a little less than six minutes into the opening half. Junior Brian Nova broke loose for the try and senior Nico Figueroa made the conversion kick, giving the Cardinals a 7-0 lead.

A penalty try was awarded to Greenwich, which took a 14-0 advantage on the Wreckers, then senior Anthony Barallon caught a quick pass on the wing and sprinted down the sideline for a try, making it 19-0 with just over 3:40 left in the first half.

Luzuriaga reached the try zone late in the opening half off a well-executed pass from senior Jack Wilson, giving Greenwich a commanding 24-0 lead.

Still, the Cardinals knew they couldn’t let up in the second half against the visiting Wreckers.

“The scoreline looked good, but we weren’t doing what we wanted to do,” Fina noted. “Tons of credit to Staples, they never gave up in the first half or second half. They’re known for their ferocious defense. We let them hang in for a little bit more than they should have in the first half.”

Staples struck first in the second half, reaching the try zone, then making the conversion, cutting Greenwich’s lead to 24-7. The Wreckers closed to within 24-14 with another try and conversion early in the second half, but the Cards soon responded.

A recovered kickoff led to a try by senior captain Segundo Mas and the conversion kick was good by Figueroa, raising Greenwich’s edge to 31-14. The Cards were awarded a second penalty try, before Barallon sprinted 60 yards down the left sideline for a try, putting the home team on top, 45-14.

“We stepped it up, we were able to pick it up and go back and keep scoring, after they scored,” Luzuriaga said. “We knew we had to take it to them.”

Greenwich’s record on the season is 12-3, including two victories at the Boys Rugby Varsity National Championships, which was held recently at Elkhart, Indiana.

Greenwich continued its history of excelling at the National Championships, placing fifth at the ultra-competitive tournament. The Cardinals also had a fifth-place finish at the event in 2022.

After losing to Jesuit High School from California in their first game, the Cardinals posted wins against Regis Jesuit (42-31) and Herriman (32-24) to finish 2-1 in the national tourney.

“The way the tournament is structured, it’s actually more difficult to finish fifth than it is to finish fourth,” Fina said. “If you win your first game, you are automatically going to finish in the top four. We lost our first one pretty soundly to a very, very, good Jesuit team and we came back and did what we needed to do to win the next two games.”

Indeed, the Cardinals believe they are peaking at exactly the right time of the season.

“We are riding the wave from Nationals,” Figueroa said. “We won our last two games there and we know we are a very good team, so we have to keep the momentum and go and win states.”

“We are pretty confident, we went 2-1 at Nationals,” Figueroa continued. “We are playing the best that we have played all season and if we keep playing our game, I think we’re unstoppable.”

Greenwich beat Fairfield Prep, its foe in next week’s state final, 28-15, at Cardinal Stadium during the regular season (April 14). The Cardinals have won 11 state rugby championships, the most of any program in the state.

Their last state championship came in 2018. Mas, Benja Thompson and Jake Pobjoy are the Cardinals’ senior captains.

“We played them (Fairfield Prep) in the regular season and as the No. 1 seed we are confident and we are ready to go out there in the finals,” Luzuriaga said.