Achilleas Patounas, Wake Rugby Class of '06, donned the #9 jersey yesterday for the Division II Princeton Athletic Club and led the team to a 50-18 victory over league foe Montclair. Patounas, who was Wake's starting scrumhalf from 2004-2006, joined PAC in the spring of 2007. At the time, Princeton had a veteran captain manning the scrumhalf position, meaning that if Patounas wanted to see the field, he would have to move to a new position. And so he did, spending two years playing anywhere the team needed him: fullback, wing, center, and even flanker. At times Patounas also got some time at #9, and this past spring, with PAC's longtime scrumhalf recovering from injury, Patounas stepped in at scrumhalf fulltime. No doubt having benefitted from his time at unfamiliar positions, Patounas was a much improved scrumhalf and led the team to some great results, including an undefeated performance in Montana's Maggotfest tournament in May. So it was that Patounas was given the nod at #9 for the fall season league opener against Montclair. He did not disappoint, marshalling Princeton to a blowout and scoring a try himself in the process. Princeton will be in action again next weekend against the Lansdowne Rugby Club out of New York City. Lansdowne also has a connection to Wake Forest Rugby, as the brother of Dave Poplaski, Wake Rugby Class of 2009, anchors the Lansdowne front row at prop.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Patounas Earns #9 Jersey for Princeton AC
Achilleas Patounas, Wake Rugby Class of '06, donned the #9 jersey yesterday for the Division II Princeton Athletic Club and led the team to a 50-18 victory over league foe Montclair. Patounas, who was Wake's starting scrumhalf from 2004-2006, joined PAC in the spring of 2007. At the time, Princeton had a veteran captain manning the scrumhalf position, meaning that if Patounas wanted to see the field, he would have to move to a new position. And so he did, spending two years playing anywhere the team needed him: fullback, wing, center, and even flanker. At times Patounas also got some time at #9, and this past spring, with PAC's longtime scrumhalf recovering from injury, Patounas stepped in at scrumhalf fulltime. No doubt having benefitted from his time at unfamiliar positions, Patounas was a much improved scrumhalf and led the team to some great results, including an undefeated performance in Montana's Maggotfest tournament in May. So it was that Patounas was given the nod at #9 for the fall season league opener against Montclair. He did not disappoint, marshalling Princeton to a blowout and scoring a try himself in the process. Princeton will be in action again next weekend against the Lansdowne Rugby Club out of New York City. Lansdowne also has a connection to Wake Forest Rugby, as the brother of Dave Poplaski, Wake Rugby Class of 2009, anchors the Lansdowne front row at prop.
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