Around Men's D2 College Rugby: GMW, Northern Lights, NEWCRC, MARC

10.21.2023College Men

Scores are coming in this Men's DII College weekend and some major ramifications are underway.

Maine defeated Vermont 27-20 in the NEWCRC. Led by 22 points from Shea Wagner, who scored three tries and added two conversions and a penalty, the Black Bears put themselves in excellent position to win the conference.

With the Maine forwards putting in another fine performance, the Bears handed Vermont their second straight loss. Maine's record improved to 5-0.

They will now watch closely Sunday's result of Norwich vs Bentley. That's expected to be a Norwich win, but the bonus points seem to be in Maine's favor.

DII College Scores This Weekend

Villanova put in an impressive showing in a 29-12 defeat of Scranton. With the result, Scranton dropped to 5-1 and Villanova moved to 6-0. Lehigh defeated Bloomsburg, but that result didn't really change the playoff scenario for Bloomsburg.

This all just confirmed that Georgetown would be #1 in the MARC South and Villanova #1 in the MARC North, with UMBC and Scranton following them.

In the Great Midwest, Northwest beat Illinois State on Friday and that result looks to have confirmed the Wildcats as a semifinalist. They will play Chicago on Sunday and that game will decide which of those two teams get the #1 seed. Northwestern will need to win with a bonus point and deny Loyola any bonus points to take the #1 spot.

In the GMW North, Northern Iowa won big over UW-Platteville, and they really already had the #1 spot wrapped up. However, UW-Whitewater needed a win to be sure of the #2 spot. They got it, beating UW-Milwaukee 41-12.

So that means the semifinals should probably be Whitewater vs Loyola and Northwestern vs UNI.

In the Northern Lights Conference, MSU Mankato clinched a 6-0 record and #1 in the conference going into the playoffs with a convincing 55-12 victory over North Dakota State.

With a strong defensive effort led by Kadin Larsson, Sam Horn, and Sean O’Driscoll, Mankato made it tough going for the Lost Boys. No. 8 Paxton Pagel scored three tries while his back row mate Hunter Tate added two and the other flanker, Larsson, scored one. Flyhalf O'Driscoll also scored two tries while wing Linus Simam added one. Captain Blake Martin was outstanding at center and converted five of the Maverick tries.

Next week will be the championship match which will be a rematch of this weekend's game.

Around Men's D2 College Rugby: GMW, Northern Lights, NEWCRC, MARC

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