Who can contend for a NCR D2 title?
The playoffs normally bring in almost two-dozen teams into the playoffs but we're looking at who might go deep.
As always we're looking at the Great Midwest, but the NACR, Southern, and MARC also are worthy of examination, and the shifts in the Allegheny and Lonestar mean strong teams are coming from every where.
Liberty
The Liberty (if you also include the old Tri-State), has long had specific teams be the tops in the conference. But this year we've seen a change.
SUNY Binghamton has shown improvement but their game against Cornell has been postponed. However, SUNY Oswego and RIT are also new contenders. Stony Brook has emerged also, and produced a nifty 38-34 win over Marist this week.
With most of last year's starting lineup back for this year Stony Brook has experience, plus some new players who have some talent.
"Those returning players remember the beating they took last year from Cornell, 79-0," said Head Coach Jerry Mirro. We have a returning front row of Gjin Prelvukl, Gabe Bentleu, and Josh Zayac with good size. Our second row has the length and athletic ability to get around the pitch. The backrow is also an athletic bunch."
With team captain John Gross anchoring the backline at outside center and some talent throughout, they could make major changes in the conference.
SUNY Oswego logged a 76-20 win over Albany, led by three tries from Sawyer Schwendy and two each from ica Van Dommele and Jason Vetrano. Van Dommele, the team captain, logged 20 points in that game.
Nazareth pulled off an impressive 60-24 win over RPI. RPI scored first but Sal Hernandez's grubber set up Zayan Mohammed for Nazareth's first try. The scores from Kameron Walls, Zakariah Zaddem, Gunnar Tyrrell, Devin Clarke, and Cameron Driscoll allowed the Golden Flyers to pull away in the first half.
RPI mounted a bit of a comeback but James Moore scored two tries, as did Morgammed, and Conor Nicks (player of the game and defensive standout) scored one.
