Allegheny Conference Opens as D2 Champs Win
Allegheny Conference Opens as D2 Champs Win
The Allegheny Conference opened its men’s D2 action this past weekend, getting a bit of a head start on the rest of D2.
Defending national champs IUP opened their conference season with a fairly comfortable 44-12 win over Slippery Rock.
IUP Head Coach Seth Erwin has several returning starters on which to draw so really his lineup decisions were more about tinkering.
“It’s things like, which prop starts and which prop is best to come on in the second half,” Erwin told GRR.
Freshman Dylan Deasey was held out of IUP’s opening game, a loss to D1 side Rio Grande, because of a tweaked hamstring, but he was eager to get on the first and on his first touch of the ball broke through for a 60-meter try.
Deasey ended up with two tries as did Santino Fischio. RJ Beach, Cam Taylor, Trent Stalling, Ethan Miller, Mike Fryer, and Dylan McAnulty all touched down once for the Crimson Hawks. Fullback Don Holmes added nine points with the boot.
Heavily favored to win their conference, IUP likely has a return to the NCR D2 final among their goals. Erwin has been successful in maintaining the playing standard because, he says, everyone brings their best against the Crimson Hawks.
“People know our skills and they know what we’ve done, so what we talk about is that every team will try to play their best rugby against us,” said Erwin. “So we have to prepare for that and really look at every game as if it’s a playoff match.”
Also victorious was West Virginia, which beat Robert Morris 39-20. Patrick Cooney was the player of the game, scoring a try and being useful around the pitch, while Michael Duffy led the team with 14 points from two tries and two conversions. Brian Vollman added two tries as well.
The Allegheny Conference plays a mixed-division schedule, so D3 teams play against D2 teams. Slippery Rock and Robert Morris are such D3 teams. So is John Carroll, which downed D2 team Kent State over the weekend.
With two tries from Kevin Paul and one each from Nick Johnson and Aloysius Tubbs, John Carroll got by KSU 20-12.
Franciscan, one of the favored teams in DIII, and IUP’s next opponent, defeated another D3 contender in Christendom this past weekend.
Tries from Nick Potryn, Jacob Leerkes, and Chris Ascough scored tries to stake Franciscan to a 17-3 halftime lead. A try from Sebastian Bise extended that lead to 22-3. But Christendom stormed back with two late tries to make it close but Franciscan held on 22-17.
Next up Kent State is at Robert Morris, IUP hosts Franciscan, and WVU hosts Slippery Rock. John Carroll is at Bowling Green’s C side in a non-conference match.
