New England Wide Latest - CGA and Hartford
The Coast Guard Academy and University of Hartford remain atop the New England Wide Collegiate Conference after the undefeated CGA team beat the undefeated and defending conference champion Springfield squad, and Hartford also won.
In a game that was at hotly-contested as you might expect, Springfield held off Coast Guard in the first half and led 10-7.
"We just didn't really have the ball," said Coast Guard Coach Crist Holveck, whose team struggled to adjust to the referee. "When you are able to retain possession when you can start to build something and spin it wide. That's what we wanted to do but we couldn't."
But the CGA players didn't get frustrated and turned the game around in the second half, keeping Springfield scoreless and running in three tries to win the game 26-10.
Air Force Holds Off Navy
The US Air Force Academy regained the Shea Cup after beating Navy 32-31 in a tense inter-service-academy clash.
Air Force led through a good portion of the game, finding gaps in the Navy backline defense. They did this despite seeing captain and center Ben Burmester go out with a nasty injury. Dalton Welch stepped in for Burmester and did a solid job at short notice.
Fullback Casey Rothstein had a bit of a breakout game, scoring two tries and making two try-saving tackles. The lacrosse crossover has been learning the game for the past year, and showed a big step forward in this game.
"He's really working on his defensive positioning," said Air Force Coach Denny Merideth.
Men DII College Games Oct. 1-2
Here are the games in Men's DII College rugby this weekend.
Among the big games are UW-Whitewater hosting UW-Stout, where Stout wants to show they are at least competitive with the top team in the WIIL. RIT at Cortland is the clash of the two undefeated teams in Upstate NY. In the New England Wide, Coast Guard, a new team in the conference, meets defending champs Springfield in a huge clash.
UNbeaten IUP plays unbeaten York in the MARC, and UNC-Charlotte v Appalachian State in the Southern is the same sort of matchup.
Check back for scores and reports.
Men DI College Games Sept 30-Oct 2
A very busy weekend in Men's DI College, and we've got some thoughts on most of the games.
Click on the links below to get info on the linked team or the linked conference. The Chesapeake Conference remains full of questions, Harvard v Penn should be a great one in the Ivy League, and Florida at Tennessee is a huge one in the SCRC.
Check back for scores.
Stern Test for Both Panthers and Lynx
Lindenwood-Belleville takes on another difficult DIA opponent in Davenport this week.
For the Lynx, that makes the third such opponent so far - they lost 30-14 to Wheeling Jesuit, and last week lost 51-16 to Arkansas State. Head Coach Pat Clifton said he was quite pleased with the level of improvement for his team, and that seems fair considering Lindenwood-Belleville's rugby program didn't really exist before last fall, and they were DII then. Now playing a DIAA independent schedule, the Lynx are being challenged by their coach to play at a high level, and not get overconfident.
It seems to be working. Clifton pointed out that the score against Arkansas State was 30-16 with about ten minutes to go.
Navy Visits Air Force as both Honor Fallen Friend
The US Naval Academy travels to Colorado this weekend to take on Air Force in a game that is more than a game.
This clash is part of the Commander-in-Chief Trophy, the informal but so important series between the three US military academies. Informal in that it's not a real conference or anything, but the series has been formalized in the sense that all three programs have made the commitment to playing each other during the season.
Commitment, of course, is an important part of what these young athletes are about. All of the Academy rugby players will finish their studies in four years and leave with a degree and a commission in their specific branch of the military. They leave also with the commitment of at least five years of military service. That service can be dull, it can be arduous, it can be dangerous. It's never easy.
Watch Out for Penn State
Maybe they'd like to fly under the radar, but they can't; word is rampant that Penn State is for real and could well be the best team in the Rugby East.
Maybe that's premature - certainly Head Coach Blake Burdette would say so, but the Nittany Lions are looking awfully good. Scrumhalf Jimmy Ronan is not only playing a good #9 and kicking goals with accuracy, but he is starting to be a leader.
"I want him to play the game with more pace," said Burdette after praising his scrumhalf. "And he's getting there. He's getting better every game, and he's become a good leader."
Wing Mike Eife, who played with Atlantis and has become a pretty deadly finisher. Prop Jordan Crofts, a Utah Youth Rugby product, has been outstanding, and John McLean, said Burdette, is an excellent USA U20 candidate.
Communication has Illinois State Winning
While Wisconsin-Whitewater may still be the favorites in WIIL Conference, there’s a nice battle brewing to see who will face the Warhawks in the final.
Northern Michigan is certainly solid in the North Division with UW-W, but in the South, it’s going to come down to Northern Iowa against Illinois State.
Long considered a team that has size and athleticism, but perhaps doesn’t play the most sophisticate brand of rugby, ISU is looking to change things a little but more.
“We’ve changed the way we play defense,” said center and club president Will Blair. “It’s more of a zone defense. Illinois-Wesleyan barely made it out of their half. We were communicating well. It starts with preparation and practice, and we’re just more structured, and with the right preparation everyone is ready to go right away.”
Gamebreakers - Garrett Shibilski
We first mentioned Garrett Shibilski last year, when the Wisconsin-Whitewater hooker showed some impressive open-field skills in the Men's DII College playoffs.
Well, this year, with the Whitewater pack operating nicely, Shibilski has moved to fullback.
"He is turning into a very dynamic runner and one of our best defenders," said coach Matthew Pederson.
"Playing fullback is awesome," said Shibilski, who continues his run of form for an unbeaten UWW team. "It's a little bit more running and less physical than hooker - I'm not getting pushed around by the big guys so much. But playing 7s has really helped me. I am improving my passing and working on other things I need to do better - those little things that make an impact."
Southern Conference Latest
Furman and UNC-Wilmington lead the Southern Rugby Conference after both won games against former DI opposition.
Furman slammed Wake Forest 96-0 and UNCW defeated UNC- Chapel Hill 47-21 in a game that was close for about half the time. The Southern Conference is starting to split up between the top teams and the not-so-tops. Of the 21 games so far in the conference, more than half - 12 - have been decided by 40 points or more, with three seeing the victors scoring for more than 100 points. Eight of the games have been shutouts.
Furman is now 3-0 and UNCW is now 4-0. Also 3-0 is UNC-Charlotte, which score over 100 against UNC-Greensboro, and Appalachian State which beat Western Carolina 28-0. Charlotte and Appalachian State face off Saturday in a game that could mean much come playoff time.
Syracuse Bounces Back in Wild Empire
Well the message from the latest Empire Conference results has backed up Goff Rugby Report’s earlier assertion that this conference will be tough to call.
We’re only three weeks in, and every team has lost a game. For Syracuse, the defending champs, that’s good news in that their 3-0 loss to Brockport two weekends ago isn’t the death knell on their repeat hopes they might have thought it was.
Regulation 9 Still a Issue for Maori Game
Regulation 9 in World Rugby says that clubs must release players who have been called up to international duty, but that rule only applies to specific times of the year.
The USA v. Maori All Blacks game at Toyota Park in Chicago on November 4 falls outside that window, and so, as was the case in February, and as was the case in 2014, USA Rugby has had to do some fancy dancing to balance the rosters.
Certain players will be able to get away from their pro clubs for the game in Chicago, but the tradeoff will be that they might not be available for one or both of the games against Romania and Tonga. That's one reason why the Eagles are expected to treat Blaine Scully and Todd Clever as co-captains, rather than have one player take that role.
Startling Turnaround for William Paterson
William Paterson’s 2-0 start in the Tri-State Conference is notable enough, but even more so when you consider WPU did not win a single conference game last year.
The turnaround isn’t a fluke. WPU defeated NJIT and Molloy, two teams that were 5-1 in the conference last season.
New Coach Morne Pretorius took over the team in the spring, and worked them through some 7s tournaments, which helped restore confidence and enthusiasm. Pretorius knew he had a job ahead of him, but didn’t mind.
“This was the first of situation I was looking for,” Pretorius told Goff Rugby Report. “I wanted something that we could build, something that needed work, not a place where everything was handed to us.”
Who's Up, Who's Down in DI Rugby This Week
Many, many weeks lie ahead through a long and varied college season, and below the standings show just a small sample of the games Men DI College teams will play.
We have a look at who's up and who's down so far.
Gamebreakers - Chris Coyne
As Sacred Heart has begun the Tri-State Men's DII Conference season 2-0, Chris Coyne has been at the heart of it.
The former BC High standout is a big, powerful prop who has set the tone in the scrums, and thumps bodies out of the way in the breakdown and running the ball. He's also the club president, carries a 3.8 GPA, and was all-conference last season.
Said his coach, Ray Peterson: "he's the prop you want to be behind when you play. He's immovable. A lot of what we're able to do starts up front. Chris is a four-year starter, the anchor of our front row; he's got a good rugby pedigree. He's a terrific rugby player, and a better person."
