Every game matters in the incredibly competitive Atlantic Rugby Conference, with often the thinnest of margins separating the heroes from the zeroes in conference play.
Case in point: the Wheeling Cardinals currently sit at the bottom of the table at 0-2 with a point differential of -7 after a six-point loss to Belmont Abbey and a one-point loss to Kutztown. Conversely, the reigning national champions, St. Bonaventure, sit at the top of the table at 2-0 with a point differential of +2 following consecutive one-point wins over Belmont Abbey and Queens.
It’s those two schools, Queens and Belmont Abbey, who will now square off on Friday night in a battle for second place overall and the right to call themselves an early contender. Each team carries the one loss to the Bonnies as well as one win, with Queens notching a 20-point victory over Kutztown in mid September. For Belmont Abbey, though, that loss to the Bonnies can be considered a metaphorical win, at least, because it highlights just how far the young program has come in its three years under head coach Genaro Fessia – a highly decorated player in his home country of Argentina earning 18 caps with the national team from 2004 to 2012, including at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
“If you saw our game against the Bonnies one year ago, they dominated us in every aspect of the game,” said Fessia of the Crusaders’ 40-11 loss in 2025. “But I think the story was completely different two weeks ago. Our team is growing a lot year by year because we are competing with the best ones, and they are pushing us to be better every season. So, hopefully, our curve is still going up.”
Belmont Abbey has improved steadily in its results against in-state rival Queens as well over the years, losing 30-10 in 2024 and 47-19 in the regular season in 2025 before falling just short against the Royals in the National Semifinals last year, 15-19. The game on Friday will be the first time that the Crusaders will host Queens out of any of those matchups, which could provide them with a bit of an edge in this evenly-matched contest.
What makes this such a compelling game is that both rosters are absolutely packed to the gills with talented players, many of whom, like Queens powerhouse in the pack, Keanin Kamp, are veterans of NCR’s high-performance program.
“For me, that was a really great experience training was some of the best players in the country,” Kamp said of the week-long preparation for a game against All-Ireland League team Cork Constitution. “The level of training was really high,and there were a lot of expectations. I think for me, personally, what I brought back was the importance of high-intensity training and training above the game so that when we play the game it’s not as difficult and straining.”
The experience Kamp picked up over the summer has helped him guide what is, ultimately, a fairly young Royals team with a number of standout freshmen looking to bolster a roster that fell one game short of winning a national championship in 2025. That young corp is led by twins Arden and Harrison Redmond, who play in the backline together. No. 8 Joey Craig is also a force and a player to watch out for in this contest. The Royals still have plenty of veteran talent, though, led by Kamp and dynamic flyhalf Zach Colson, who didn’t play in the game against St. Bonaventure last week. Loose forward Emile van Dyke is another veteran who adds a physical presence to the pack along with Kamp.
Kamp will be plenty familiar with at least one of Belmont Abbey’s stars, as he practiced alongside flyhalf Harrison Tu’isila during the leadup to the Cork Constitution match. The Crusaders also rely heavily on Riordan Sweet at loose forward and Will Rimes at inside center. But Fessia stressed that there are 50 guys on that team, not 15, who can make contributions on game day and that the team’s style of play reflects the fact that contributions can come from anywhere on the roster.
“We like to play what I call, rugby with options,” said Fessia. “I like to give the guys the freedom to make decisions in the game depending on what’s going on in front of them. And, of course, we’re trying to move the ball as much as we can. This is, I will say, our main game style.”
Of Queens’ preferred style of play, Kamp says the team likes to play quick, distributing the ball to the edge and back. They prioritize a good chase line defensively, and like making big hits, and taking big carries, which generally results in a pretty entertaining game of rugby.
“We focus a lot on fixing details,” said Kamp, “so, we’ve used all of the games so far as stepping stones to where we want to get to. And each game and each week we’ve been getting better and better.”
It’ll be strength on strength on strength on strength in this match as Queens believe their backline equals that of Belmont Abbey while the Crusaders believe their forward pack has improved enough in 2026 to equal that of the Royals. Both of these teams also feel that they play up to the strength of their opponent, meaning the sky’s the limit for the amount of skill that could be on display at the end of the week. And a win would go a long way for either side as the Atlantic Conference playoffs kick off at the end of the month and there are no light landing spots left on the schedule between then and now. But each team is also focused more on their own game at this point in the season than worrying about whoever it is they’re facing across the pitch.
“We are a program that grows every week, you know, we learn from our games, and our game is in constant evolution,” Fessia said of his Crusaders. “I like to give the guys the freedom to make decisions and every game, when they have more experience, the learning is better. I think we’re improving week by week. And hopefully, hopefully, this Friday we will have a good game and, and good result for us … but it depends on every single moment because we know that Queens will be really tough and it will be a really interesting game to watch.”
“I would say we want to make a statement win for ourselves,” said Kamp of the team’s motivations heading into the match, “Like I said, we’re a new team, a lot of freshmen on the team, so, we just want to make a statement towards ourselves, saying that we’re still in this. Don’t sleep on us just yet.”
And make sure you don’t sleep on the rest of the exciting games on this year’s FNR slate, the schedule for which can be found here.
Tune in for free to Queens vs Belmont Abbey, and other live NCR matches, at NCR TV. Fans can also watch live and for free on Ryz Sports Network.
Written by Zach Lanning
