Ithaca, Davenport, Kutztown - And More - Win Big
Ithaca, Davenport, Kutztown - And More - Win Big
The Upstate New York conference is perfect for teams like Ithaca. The DI and DII women's colleges compete against each other during the league season, so a solid DII side like Ithaca can challenge itself against the likes of Syracuse and Buffalo (DI), while also working its depth against developing teams in the league. That exposure appears to have paid off, as Ithaca trampled Buffalo 85-10 on Saturday and has outscored its three opponents thus far 244-20. Ithaca is no longer the DII team to beat in Upstate NY; it's the team to beat, period.
Last weekend, wing Katie Conmy came through in a big way. She led her teammates on points, touching down three tries and kicking a slew of conversions. Australian Taylor Joyce also celebrated a hat trick, while Meredith Grossman scored twice, and Aury Dechick, Jacquelyn Reyes, Monica Juodisius, Alexa Darwish and Alexis Gilbert added a try apiece.
Ithaca's next challenge is the other DI team in the league, Syracuse, on Sept. 27. In other news, SUNY Brockport bettered SUNY Oswego 81-15, while Buffalo State defeated SUNY Geneseo 31-23.
| UPSTATE NY STANDINGS | ||||||||
| Division I | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BP | PTS |
| Syracuse | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 39 | 1 | 5 |
| Buffalo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 85 | -75 | 0 | 0 |
| Division II | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BP | PTS |
| Ithaca | 3 | 0 | 0 | 244 | 20 | 224 | 3 | 15 |
| Brockport | 2 | 1 | 0 | 160 | 76 | 84 | 2 | 10 |
| Buffalo State | 2 | 1 | 0 | 88 | 62 | 26 | 2 | 10 |
| Geneseo | 1 | 2 | 0 | 55 | 84 | -29 | 2 | 6 |
| Fredonia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 32 | -18 | 0 | 0 |
| RIT | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 67 | -53 | 0 | 0 |
| Oswego | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 213 | -198 | 0 | 0 |
Like Ithaca, Davenport has reiterated its dominance in the Great Lakes conference. Friday opponent Grand Valley was billed as Davenport's toughest conference opponent, and GVSU showed up. The first half yielded only 10 points for the visitors. But the second half belonged to the Panthers, who added another 48 points in the final 40.
"Grand Valley came out very strong on defense and were playing at a very high level," Davenport coach Greg Teliczan said. "We controlled the ball throughout the first half with our forwards but were very sloppy not only in the back line but also short passes between our pack members. Too many knock-ons to count."
But the Panthers stuck to their game plan, and patience finally paid off.
"I told the girls to slow it down and keep it tight, and that's what they did, and opportunities opened up for us," Teliczan said. "Grand Valley is a tough side and going to give teams fits."
All American wing Danielle Ordway took advantage of those opportunities and banked her second five-try performance this season. Courtenay Tafel, Junior All American Ashlee Byrge, Brenna Donahue and Carrie Eggleston also scored tries, while Hannah Tennant added four conversions.
Davenport is now 2-0 in league and faces Saginaw Valley this weekend.
Kutztown padded its points differential with a 84-5 win over The College of New Jersey, improving to 2-0 in the Mid-Atlantic conference's Tri-State Division. Kutztown moved the ball around well, but captain Faith Hughes stood out on the day. Moving back from second row to No. 8, Hughes made good use of her extra touches on the ball and scored seven tries.
After a 10-minute stalemate, it was the Kutztown backs who opened up the scoring and maintained a quick pace until the break. Center Tabetha Super took a beautiful line into the center of the try zone for the first of her two tries, while fellow center Acacia Myers and flanker Kristin Schmitz tacked on two tries apiece. Hughes had a hat trick by the end of the first 40, and wing Payton McCord added five conversions.
The second half opened similarly to the first. TCNJ reorganized its defense and silenced Kutztown for the first 15 minutes. But the eventual victor kept hammering away until the New Jersey side broke and saw Hughes score another four tries. Flanker Jessica Tolton and wing Danielle Ashway scored tries as well, while McCord tacked on two more conversions.
TCNJ avoided the shutout in the 65th minutes, stringing together a series of phases for their lone points of the day.
"As a coach you live to see days like this," Kutztown coach Sean Cobb said. "The girls used everything we have been working on to keep TCNJ guessing. We have been working on recognizing opportunities and exploiting what the defense gives us. Today we did just that. Whether it was with the forwards or the backs, we kept moving forward and taking advantage of what was available. Overall it was a good day for Kutztown. Now we begin preparation for St. Joseph's University and look to keep the level of play high."
St. Joe's enjoyed a big win last weekend, too, bettering MARC newcomer Rowan 72-5. In the Pennsylvania Division, reigning MARC champion Shippensburg played its first league match and celebrated its first win: 41-10 vs. Scranton. York College held onto a 12-5 victory over East Stroudsburg.
LEAGUE ROUNDUPS
IUP, which finished 3rd at USA Rugby's DII championship, blanked California University of Pennsylvania 40-0 to improve to 2-0 in the Allegheny conference ... Colgate is 3-0 in Excelsior after its 22-7 victory over RPI; Siena celebrated a 75-0 shutout vs. Le Moyne, and Hamilton crushed Oneonta 65 ... UW Steven's Point (59-19 v UW Stout), UW La Crosse (51-15 v UW Eau Claire) and UW Osh Kosh (66-19 v Northern Michigan) were the victors in Great Waters ... No close games in New England Small College, as 2-0 Bowdoin beat Tufts 54-0, Colby topped Middlebury 31-10, and Maine-Orono defeated Williams 45-8 ... Read about Winona's dominating performance against Northern Lights rival Mankato ... Rugby Northeast top teams Stonehill (67-7 v St. Anselm), St. Michael's (62-5 v Providence) and Holy Cross (71-0 v Merrimack) all looked good early on, as did Bryant in its 32-20 win over Southern Connecticut ... In Tri-State, the closest game occurred between Fairfield and Stony Brook, with the former winning 31-20; the rest were blowouts: Fordham 48-10 Bard, Marist 122-5 New Paltz, Rutgers 51-0 Albany, and Sacred Heart 86-0 Drew.
NON-CONFERENCE RESULTS
Notre Dame College dismantled host Mary Washington 109-0; stay tuned for details ... Salisbury geared up for the Capital season with a 41-24 win over UMBC, as did George Washington win a 51-22 victory over American ... Tri-State's Vassar used its bye week to beat Excelsior's SUNY Cortland 35-10 ... College of Charleston dropped a 36-10 contest to DI Clemson.
