Kutztown University weathered a tough first half and two yellow cards to defeat American International College in a non-conference clash between two top colleges Saturday.

The two teams battled to a 19-15 scoreline at halftime, and down two men due to two yellow cards in the second half, Kutztown managed to score to extend their lead. But the killer blow came moments later. AIC was pressing and were right on the line when KU center Nu'u Aiava intercepted a pass and raced 99 meters to score and make it 31-15. That was a momentum-shifter.

"I was happy to see how everyone handled it when we were down to 13 men," said KU Head Coach Gregg Jones. "They have a lot of talented players and really tested us in the midfield. I was impressed with several of their players."

Kutztown was pressing a little too much in the first half, and, said Jones, once they relaxed they started to extend their lead.

No. 8 Wes Hartmann scored the first two of Kutztown's tries, while Casper Huizenga scored the other first-half try. AIC got tries from Gavan D'Amore-Morrison, who gave KU all kinds of problems, and John Jackson. Bryce Neff converted the second try and added a penalty.

In the second half, Robert Stortz zipped over early, and then Aiava scored his interception try, followed quickly by a try from lock Adam Greider. AIC scored right from the restart after that, and D'Amore-Morrison added his second some minutes later to make it 36-27. But the last word was Kutztown's, as Duke Makina went over to finish off the scoring.

The game itself meant nothing more than a good test for both teams. But it showed that AIC is right there among the upper echelon of teams, and also shows that Kutztown can handle a big, athletic team like AIC.

AIC did play without Christian Adams, who was serving a suspension for an earlier red card.