ASTON, PA (April 30, 2019) -- The men's rugby team closed out their spring campaign with a strong showing at the MARC 7s tournament hosted by Neumann University on Saturday, April 27. The Monarchs pulled off a win over Ursinus in the championship round to win the day's tournament phase.

The day started with a matchup against Widener, which saw King's pull out to a big early lead. Skyler Smith, Ian Prator, and Gavin Gagliardi each scored tries in the first half as the Monarchs built up a solid advantage, Nick Ianotta scored a pair of tries to carry the offensive load in the second stanza. King's defeated Widener by a score of 31-12.

The Monarchs battled a common foe in PSU-Berks in their second game of the day. A late penalty try in favor of Berks would eventually prove to be the game-defining score, as the contest ended in a 19-19 tie. Interestingly, the teams also entered the second half with a knotted score at 7-7, with Gagliardi providing the lone first half try for King's.

The winning ways were reignited in a dominant performance against Swarthmore. Noah Cusatis put together his finest outing of the season with three tries, two in the first half and one in the second. Prator and Smith provided a bit of offensive insurance to go along with Cusatis' impressive performance, and the Monarchs ran away with a 29-0 victory.

Against Holy Family, it was Gagliardi, who carried King's to a triumph. The captain scored two first half tries to go with three conversions. Prator and Smith got in on the action as well, adding to their personal tally for the day. With the 21-7 win, the Monarchs advanced to the championship to take on Ursinus.

In the championship, Gavin Gagliardi and Joey Ferrone led the offense, with each player scoring a try in the first half that built up a 10-0 Monarch lead. Ursinus would make a comeback though, and ended winning the title, 14-10.