With a wealth of appearances at the Boys Rugby Varsity National Championships in Elkhart, Indiana and 11 state championships to its resume, Greenwich High School’s rugby team has a successful tradition that’s unmatched in the state of Connecticut.

Coming off a 2023 season in which it advanced to the title game of the Connecticut State Championship and posted a fifth-place finish at the National Championships, Greenwich High’s boys Varsity A team is well on its way toward another winning season.

Through six games, the Cardinals have registered a record of 4-2 and are currently ranked 10th in the country. Their latest win came on April 26 at Cardinal Stadium, a 34-15 victory against rival Aspetuck Valley Rugby Club, which is based out of Redding, Conn.

“It’s always a big match against Aspetuck, they’re strong, they’re well-coached, they have good aggressive kids,” said Greenwich first-season head coach Mike Laczkowski, who took over the coaching reigns this year after Mike Fina guided the program for numerous seasons.

Saturday’s win came after Greenwich upended longtime rival Xavier from New York, 45-15. Prior to defeating Xavier High School, the Cardinals were defeated by Boston College High School up in Massachusetts, 40-24. The Cardinals’ other loss came against Rye (N.Y.) High School, a tight 12-7 defeat.

“The last two weeks have been great,” Laczkowski said of his GHS squad. “We had a great win against Xavier. We had a couple of tough losses against teams that maybe we should have shown a better effort. But maybe losing earlier in the season is going to help us later when we get into some of the tougher games and nationals.”

Brian Nova-Acosta, Gaston Gomez and Ignacio Piccione are the captains of Greenwich’s successful Varsity A squad. In Saturday’s matchup against Aspetuck Valley Rugby Club, Ignacio Pietryka scored the Cardinals’ first try, giving the team a 5-0 lead. Pietryka gained possession of the ball sprinted down the sideline and bulled his way into the try zone, igniting the Cards early.

“For most of the team my job is to get the ball and run people over and that’s what I do when I get the ball – I just run straight,” Pietryka noted.

Ignacio Aldunate reached the try zone with 21:37 remaining in the first half, giving Greenwich’s Varsity A squad a 10-0 advantage on Aspetuck Valley.

“Definitely the support from our teammates was they key to our victory,” Aldunate said. “Getting our energy up, that second half we really stepped up the energy, which helped us.”

A try by Aspetuck Valley cut Greenwich’s lead to 10-5, but Ignacio Piccione extended the Cardinals’ edge. Piccione reached the try zone off a kickoff by Benjamin Gonzalez Lobo, putting GHS in front, 15-5 with 4:40 left in the opening half.

“Every time I tell him to kick the ball through it goes through and it’s always in my hands,” Piccione said of Gonzalez Lobo’s kick that set up his try.

Aspetuck scored a try on the last play of the first half, then converted a penalty kick with 25 minutes remaining in the second half to tie the score at 15-15. It was all Greenwich from there, though.

Piccione broke the deadlock with his second try of the match, making it 20-15 in favor of the Cards. Pietryka registered his second try, which was followed by a successful conversion by Andre Meier, upping the hosts’ advantage to 27-15.

“Once we turned it on like we did against Xavier last week, the team really stepped up we did what we needed to do,” Piccione noted. “It was showing in the last few minutes how much energy we had. That scrum at the end everyone was yelling, we took it right back and scored.”

Eric Fischer’s try late in the second half and Meier’s conversion kick capped Greenwich Varsity A’s impressive 34-15 victory over visiting Aspetuck.

“We were really pumped up after a big win against Xavier, we had to really lock in,” Piccione said. “I feel really good about the team, a lot of people have stepped up and did what they needed to do.”

Last season saw Greenwich’s Varsity A team place fifth at Nationals, then make it to the title game of the state tournament, where it was edged by Fairfield Prep, 33-28, at Staples High School. The Cardinals have won a state-best 11 state championships, with their last one coming in 2018.

“The goals are to definitely win states and be the No. 1 public school at nationals,” Aldunate said.

Greenwich’s Varsity A team visits Trumbull on May 4, then travels to Fairfield Prep in a rematch of last season’s state final, on May 10. The Boys Rugby Varsity National Championships takes place May 23-25 in Indiana.

“We’ve traveled to Indiana the past few years, there’s eight teams in our bracket – eight high school teams,” Pietryka noted. “We hope to be ranked high so we can have a good match at the beginning.”