Norwich Wins Again - NECRC Latest
The Norwich University men's rugby team is now 2-0 in the New England CRC after beating Middlebury in 30-14 on Saturday.
The Cadets opened the game with 30 straight points and held on as Middlebury scored two tries in the final eight minutes. Norwich got two early tries from scrumhalf Tom St. Pierre, and flyhalf Keegan Frisk converted one try and added a penalty for a 15-0 lead.
Iowa Central CC a New Program to Watch
Iowa Central Community College logged another strong result this past weekend, defeating Iowa State 26-15.
This follows in a defeat of Creighton the week before and solid scores against the likes of Northern Iowa and Minnesota-Duluth.
Not bad for a community college, but it’s also a community college with a varsity rugby program.
ICCC has ben varsity since 2015, and under Head Coach Brent Nelson is easing its way into the rugby scene. Many of the students on the team played rugby in Iowa, where the main high school season is 7s. So Nelson has a lot of players who can play in the open field.
“It’s kind of like getting the keys to a Ferrari,” he said. “It’s unique. When we do get tight five guys, and we get a few, they know how to pass.”
Rocky Mountain Now a Free-For-All?
Western State's win over Colorado School of Mines throws the Rocky Mountain Conference into a free-for-all.
WSU could well run the table, but it's worth noting that both of their victories have been very close. Air Force B, which won't be in the DII national playoffs, of course (a school can only compete in one division postseason) can still win the conference, and you wonder, now, if 2014 winners Colorado College are poised to do something.
It's all become exactly what the teams wanted when the conference expended.
Lindenwood Savors Uni 7s Trip
The day Lindenwood arrived in Bath for the Red Bull World Uni 7s, Head Coach Josh Macy had been on the job for a week.
Taking your new team to a major tournament may not be the easiest way to start the job, but it all turned out quite nicely, as the Lions finished 3rd in the tournament, losing only to the two teams that finished 1st and 2nd.
“What was nice about it was that we really didn’t have any pressure to win,” Macy told Goff Rugby Report. “The guys were going to work hard and play to the best of their ability, but we could also relax a little, which helped.”
The team arrived in the historic city of Bath in England, where the defending champions, Bath University, are based (Bath went on to win it all again). They toured the city and saw the Roman baths for which the city is named.
Gamebreakers - Caleb Canter
Kentucky flanker Caleb Canter was a huge part of UK’s excellent defensive effort in their SCRC opener this past weekend.
Canter scored two tries, but, more important, set the tone on defense and made a series of early tackles behind the gain line that put Georgia on their heels. He ended up with five poaches in the rucks, and an amazing 20 tackles in a 41-0 shutout of the Bulldogs.
Who's Up, Who's Down in DI Rugby
Who's up and who's down in Men's DI Rugby? We tell you.
Who's up: Wheeling Jesuit. After a humbling loss in their opening week, WJU beat Lindenwood-Belleville, and then moved on with a convincing defeat of an injury-embattled St. Bonaventure.
Who's down: US Merchant Military Academy has struggled with early results and their most recent game was canceled. A terrific institution and a playoff-caliber team two years ago, they need numbers.
WSU Downs Mines - Conference Gets Tougher
The Rocky Mountain Conference got a bit of a shakeup as Western State defeated defending conference champs Colorado School of Mines 34-28 Saturday.
It was a very physical game and Western State matched Mines well in the first half. The two teams traded tries before WSU scored midway through the first half and then right before the break to make it 19-7 at halftime.
WSU added to the lead in the second half and seemed to take control 24-7. But Mines replied with two tries from center Jason Lee to close the gap to 29-21 - the tries made it three in total for Lee on the day. Western State scored one more and while Mines got their fourth try through flyhalf Jacob DeHaai (who was 4-4 on conversions and scored 13 points) to close to within six.
Northern Lights Opens
The first week of the Northern Lights Men's DII league is in the books and things are already a little shaken up.
It's not really a surprise, that one of the teams from te National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) started well, as St. Johns has been a small college power for some time and was eager to face the tougher competition of the DII league. St. John's beat Wisconsin-River Falls 27-7 in their opener. Defending national DII champs Minnesota-Duluth won their opener 36-7 over North Dakota State (more here).
Baylor Downs North Texas
Baylor defeated North Texas 34-21 Saturday in triple-digit heat in Waco.
It was a good result for Baylor. The Bears scored first with a try from outside center Jeff Scott after 12 minutes. Then a few minutes later junior flyhalf Parker Vincent grubbered a kick through the North Texas line from inside his own 22. The ball rolled on and then popped up perfectly for the backs to work it downfield. After a few pick-and-goes from the forwards, Nate Portz went over to make it 10-0.
Tri-State Conference Latest
Eighteen teams got in on the this weekend as the Tri-State Men’s DII college conference really got underway.
There were three games last week, but the nine this week put a new perspective on where each team is. Defending champs RPI won 20-0 over Union with four unconverted tries. Also winning in the North were Sacred Heart, 45-17 over Hofstra, and Siena, 46-15 over Marist - all of those games were in the Tri-State North.
“Marist has played us tough the last couple of years so this was a good result for us,” said Siena Head Coach Rich Scully. “We have a good group of experienced guys, and a really strong leadership group. It’s the leadership among the players that’s making the different.
Duluth Opens League Season With Win
The University of Minnesota Duluth Fighting Penguins opened up their defense of their national DII title with a 36-7 victory over North Dakota State Saturday.
It was the first league game for new Head Coach Dean Walsh, who has taken over from Jeramy Katchuba, who has stepped back to spend more time with his family.
It was a typically physical game in the Northern Lights Conference, and with this being early in the season, handling errors plagued both teams. Duluth also had to content with penalties, but overall did enough to win. Flyhalf Trace Bolstad scored three tries and added a conversion for a personal haul of 17. fullback Randy Tanaka, center Matt Martin, and wing Nem Nyangaresi added tries, with flyhalf Zach Schawrtz converting two.
Flanker Eric Elsner, who is a transfer from St. Scholastica, led the forwards in tackles.
Colonial Coast Kicks Off
The Colonial Coast Conference got off to a torrid start this weekend with Boston University, Salve Regina, and Plymouth State all winnings.
BU thumped Western New England 55-5, with center Razi Paasche-Orlow scoring two tries and scrumhalf Riku Kaizaki, flanker Luciano Escobar, flyhalf Matt Stringer, flanker Will Tengtio, and the back three of Jorge Matus, Zach Zimits, and Sam Hough all touching down once. Stringer added five conversions.
Kaizaki and Luciano Escobar were named the top players in a game that owed much to the work of the forward pack, especially No. 8 Ozzy Ostrowski.
Salve took care of a tough UMass Dartmotuh team 27-12 in a key early away victory. Salve Regina captain Joe Goff (no relation to the GRR editor), scored three tries, while John Crooks and Spencer Blake each scored one.
Rugby Northeast Latest - Bentley, Lowell, Providence
Bentley continues on their winning ways with a 19-12 defeat of Roger Williams in the Rugby Northeast DII conference.
Head Coach Brian Pendergrast lauded his team’s composure and conditioning for holding off the 1-0 RWU squad.
Roger Williams scored first in the game, but a try from Bentley's Sean Clohisy tied it, and then center JP O'Neill raced in to put Bentley ahead. RWU tied it up just before halftime 12-12.
In the second half, both teams had trouble finding space, but eventually John Tascione went over for the try, converted by Niall Collins, to win it for Bentley.
Week 2 Shows Success of Chesapeake Conference
The new Chesapeake Conference looks to be exactly what teams wanted when they formed it - a very competitive competition for college teams that are close to each other and are motivated to play.
Burned repeatedly by forfeits, a big competitive divide, or long travel distances, the Chesapeake teams have come together to play - they are ostensibly DI but don’t worry too much about all of that; they just want to play.
So it was that Week 2 in the Chesapeake went down this weekend, with eight teams in action, and all four games very competitive.
Virginia Tech won their first game of the conference season, taking the Commonwealth Shield from Virginia 24-10 on the back of a strong forward effort. Virginia drops to 1-1.
Lindenwood 3rd at Uni 7s
Lindenwood University finished an impressive 3rd in the Red Bull World Uni 7s finals Saturday in Bath, England.
The hosts, Bath University, won for the second year in a row. Lindenwood opened up against Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour from France, and won that game 29-12. They then took on Bath, and played the defending champs tough, but lost 27-19.
The Lions went on to beat the English qualifiers 21-5 and the Italian representatives 19-14. They capped off pool play with a 38-7 rout of Universidade Paulista of Brazil. That finished pool play for Lindenwood with a 4-1 record, just behind undefeated Bath.
