South Carolina Keeps Rolling in SCRC
Columbia, SC - The University of South Carolina Rugby traveled to the University of Kentucky this past weekend and came out victorious over the Wildcats, 42-10 to stay atop the SCRC Eastern Division.
2nd Sees Davenport Past WJU
Davenport University’s 39-10 defeat of Wheeling Jesuit was notable partly because the Grand Rapids, Mich. team knocked off a ranked opponent, but also that they did it without their captain and arguably best player, Angus MacLellan, who was at the ARC with the USA team.
For Head Coach James Wood, the victory was notable because his team rebounded from a difficult first 40 minutes. WJU ran out to a 7-0 lead with a try from Alan Hansen before JP Eloff opened the Panthers’ account with a kick. Eventually Davenport started playing somewhat better and Knute O’Donnell’s try five minutes before the break put his side ahead 13-10 (with Eloff’s conversion).
CWU Cruise to NCRC Title
Central Washington University won the Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference (NCRC) 7s championship for the 5th year in a row Sunday, defeating Western Washington 50-7 in the final. Cameron Marek scored three tries in the final, while Aladdin Schirmer claimed four on the second day of competition. CWU defeated Oregon 24-5 in the quarterfinals with tries from Schirmer, Dominic Lindstrom, Vili Toluta’u, and Marek. They then torched Gonzaga 52-0 in the semis. with Schirmer and Lindstrom scoring twice. Then they took care of business against WWU, who needed to work hard to get by Washington State 17-12 in the semis. "As a region we are getting better, the standard is getting better from where it was five years ago," CWU Head Coach Tony Pacheco.
UNC-W Wins Thriller in South
In a game of great drama UNC-Wilmington wrapped up 1st in the Southern Rugby Conference South Division with a 48-38 defeat of previously-undefeated Furman.
This was a game of two halves, as UNC-W led 31-0 at the break, but with only a couple of minutes left the score was 41-38.
"Wilmington hasn't lost a conference game since we started the conference three years ago," said Furman Head Coach John Roberts. "We knew this would be tough. That first half was sort of bewildering to us. They have a distinctive style of play and were very strong in the forwards. They took almost all of our scrums, and then we had a yellow card and they opened it up."
"We got the backs working the ball around very well and streaking through holes," said UNC-W Head Coach Jeremiah Tominack.
Vassar Clinches Tri-State North
Vassar College's men's team finished the Tri State North season 5-0 after a 39-14 of local rivals Marist.
Joe Simon paced the Brewers with two tries and Nich Graham scored a try and kicked nine points for a total of 14.
Marist battled and were within three points at halftime with Vassar up 10-7.
Under pressure in the scrums, Marist had to kick to get some go-forward, and that was exactly what Simon, at fullback, wanted. The speedy #15 scored two tries and made big meters on the counter-attack. Simon's first try put his side up 10-7 in the first half as he started the movement and got the pass after a ruck to score.
Erik Quinson was solid in the lineouts or Vassar and Kenta Hasui was outstanding in defense. It was Hasui who nabbed a ball rolling out of the scrum to score and extend Vassar's lead.
DII Men College RundownThis weekend settled some questions about who is in good shape for the Men’s DII college playoffs. Here’s a rundown. There are 14 conferences playing for 16 spots in the playoffs. In addition, Colorado College looks set for an at-large bid, where they will play in within another conference’s playoff structure. And, four conferences - Cardinals, Northern Lights, WIIL, and Potomac - will be able to get their #2 team into a play-in at some point. Meanwhile, in the Deep South, Louisiana Tech is in control and won on a forfeit this week.
Latest DI Men College Scores
Here are the latest Men's DI College scores.
Army and Kutztown are set for a collision next week. See more here.
Indiana took 1st in the Big Ten. See more here.
Clemson continued their strong run while Virginia Tech looks to be the hard-luck team of the ACRL.
Middlebury pulled off something of an upset over BC in the ECRC.
Dayton, Miami, and Bowling Green continue to win in the MAC.
St. Joe's and WVU continue to win in the Keystone. See more here.
MIssissippi State clinched the SCRC South with a win.
St Joe's, WVU Clinch in Keystone
St. Joseph’s clinched the Keystone East with a 50-24 defeat of the only team that could have caught them, Temple.
Temple dropped to 2-2 but did enough to keep 2nd, even as Rutgers moved to 2-2 with a 26-18 defeat of West Chester.
Prop Colin McHale scored two tries for St. Joe’s, while prop Mark Zatta, lock Tom Cuddihy, loose forwards Matt Burdsall and Adam Duignan, scrumhalf Ryan McDade, center Joe Wolfer, and wing Nick Hopkins all touched down.
In the Keystone West, West Virginia has been awesome and defeated Pitt 46-14. Pitt can gain little solace from having scored more points against WVU than all other opponents combined. Pitt is 2-2, while Shippensburg handily beat Millersville to put both teams at 1-3.
Dramatic Win Clinches Cardinals for JMUIn one of several meetings between undefeated teams in the last couple of weekends, James Madison University’s men’s team upended Virginia Military Institute in a wild and exciting game, 41-35. The victory puts JMU all alone in first place in the Cardinals Conference with a 5-0 record (6-0 including non-college-eligible Heat Elite). VMI drops to 3-1, even with Old Dominion, which mean Mary Washington this weekend 53-18. The JMU v VMI game was all over the place. JMU ran out to a 29-13 halftime lead, and then perhaps eased up a little, thinking they had it won.
CWU Leads NCRC 7s into Day TwoCentral Washington did as expected and ran the table in the first day of competition at the Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference 7s Saturday in Ellensburg, Wash. CWU won easily over their three pool opponents and are seeded #1 going into Day Two's quarterfinals. Seeded #2 is Washington State University, which beat Oregon State, Boise State, and Western Oregon to win a very competitive Pool C. Pool B was even closer, with the top three teams all going 2-1. After losing an early game 19-5 to Gonzaga in something of an upset, Washington rebounded to upset Western Washington in the final match of the pool.
Indiana Big Win in Big TenIndiana took sole possession of 1st place in the Big Ten Universities Conference with a dramatic 19-17 win over Michigan Saturday. Michigan, previously undefeated, falls to 3-1, while Indiana improves to 4-0. In other action, Wisconsin moved to 3-1 thanks to a forfeit win over Nebraska. Ohio State defeated Purdue 38-12 to move to 3-1, and Iowa defeated Minnesota, putting both teams at 2-2. "It was a really tough game," said Indiana club president Matt Saunders. "We were working really hard on our defense this week, so we were happy to keep them to a low score.
UVM Wins BIG GAME #1
The University of Vermont won a dramatic victory of Rhode Island Saturday to become the only undefeated team in the New England College Rugby Conference.
The two DII men's college teams had run the table so far in the NECRC, and this weekend's game was always going to be a right one. Rhode Island, coming off a physical encounter with Coast Guard, showed no ill effects and score two converted tries to lead 14-0 at halftime.
Slowly UVM inched closer. They scored a try from Kleckner Charles, and then Ben Kaufman, who converted the try, added a penalty. That made it 17-10 URI, and a Rhode Island try put them up 22-10 midway through the second half. Matthew Potter's try, with the Kaufman conversion, brought UVM within a score, and then Dan Lane put them ahead 24-22.
Rugby East Wrap - KU Over PSU and MoreKutztown University held off a furious late charge from Penn State to win a big Rugby East clash 36-28. Kutztown ran out to a 17-7 first-half lead, using the wind effectively. Meanwhile, Penn State was adjusting to a few personnel changes. They traveled without Junior All American flanker Malcolm May, and did not have flyhalf Ross Morris available, either. So center Selby Niumataiwalu was moved to flyhalf and freshman Rob Irimescu, a Xavier HS product, slotted in at outside center. Irimescu played very well and Niumataiwalu helped spark a second-half comeback that fell just short. "We showed we can play well even if we have some adversity," said captain Dan Metcalf, who scored one of the late tries to inch his side closer.
#6 Kutztown Faces #23 Penn State
Sixth-ranked Kutztown takes on #12 Penn State this weekend in the highest-ranked matchup of men’s DI rugby this weekend.
“We need to have a total team performance,” said Kutztown freshman back Nu’u Aiava, who was named Goff Rugby Report Player of the Week this week.
Kutztown defeated #25 Maryland last weekend, in a game where Head Coach was very happy to have Alex Faison-Donahoe back from injury.
“We know we can’t let up,” said Jones earlier this week.
Penn State captain Dan Metcalf said his Nittany Lions are improving.
New Head Coach Alf Daniels, who is signed on only for the fall season, has put in a new offensive system, and the team is starting to embrace it.
Davenport Hosts WJU
Wheeling Jesuit travels to Davenport this weekend for a meeting of ranked teams (WJU is #26 and Davenport #18) in a non-conference game.
For WJU, this is part of a solid path of improvement for the fall. WJU pushed top ACRC team Kutztown two weeks ago and last week beat St. Bonavanture 29-10.
Prop Andrew Ohmann and scurmhalf Zach Stramanak both scored to stake WJU to an 12-10 halftime lead - Stramanak’s quick-tap, with Brandon Stine’s conversion, negated a 10-5 SBU lead.
In the second half the Cardinals’ defense improved and Allan Hanson, Dawson Day, and Inosi Kau all touched down.
