team ultimately lost in the Final to eventual NRU champions Danbury Rugby Club, who went on to be promoted to Division II. The team showed a high level of competitiveness in their first league season and were an early favorite to win the championship in 2009. In the spring of 2009, Brooklyn Rugby secured its first two pieces of hardware, winning both the Four Leaf 15's Tournament hosted by the Village Lions and the North Bay Grey Ghost Cup hosted by North Bay rugby. In the 2009 campaign, Brooklyn Rugby lost two games in the regular season but secured a playoff berth thanks to a last-minute penalty goal against Hudson Valley. In the playoffs, Brooklyn Rugby avenged their regular season loss to Rockaway Rugby Football Club on Rockaway's home field. Brooklyn eventually lost in the Met Union Final to eventual NRU champions North Jersey RFC. This was Brooklyn's second year in the final in as many Fall seasons, an excellent record for a new club. Undefeated Season Brooklyn Rugby came into the 2010 season as one of the favorites to finish in first place. On October 21, 2010, Brooklyn Rugby completed an undefeated season with a 59-0 home win over The Rockland Rogues. The undefeated regular season included a 15-10 away win over rival Rockaway, however, Rockaway were to overturn this result in the D3 Championship final 23-14. Brooklyn still earned the 5th seed in the NRU playoffs which meant that Brooklyn had to travel to Boston to play MIT in the first round. After a back and forth game Brooklyn was able to win a tough game on the road 15-14. The result gave Brooklyn their first NRU playoff victory and granted them entry to the Northeast Final Four, along with rival Rockaway, Saratoga and Brooklyn's semi-final opponent the Syracuse Chargers. Brooklyn would lose its semi-final encounter with Syracuse but would come out strong in the consolation game against Saratoga to secure 3rd place in the NRU, Brooklyn best finish in its history. 2nd Mike Haynes Era 2011 saw the return of founding coach Mike Haynes to the team as the head coach with the retirement of Tri Do. Brooklyn's 2011 spring season saw a competitive schedule with some positive results against top tier opponents but were denied promotion by the union. Brooklyn Rugby Football club were informed that they would remain in DIII for the upcoming Fall 2011