D2 Men's College Conference Champions Crowned
D2 Men's College Conference Champions Crowned
We have some more conference champions in Men's D2 college rugby.
Georgetown
The Georgetown Hoyas not only won the MARC but won it in impressive fashion 65-19 over Villanova. Considering Villanova had only one opponent get closer than 20 points, that's a big score.
Lock Nick Frayter was monstrous in this game once again for Georgetown, putting Villanova on the back foot with his punishing runs, and playing solid defense, as well.
Inside center Gavin Brady was hugely effective and he, along with flanker Aubrey Aird, scored two tries for the Hoyas.
Marquette
In the always competitive Great Midwest, Marquette's astounding defense came to the fore with a 20-5 defeat of Northern Iowa. The weather was wet and cold, but Marquette handled it well.
"The forwards did a great job of handling the ball and maintaining possession," said Marquette's Pat Cooney, who is not a forward so he can compliment the pack without being accused of bias.
The continuity of the forwards meant that eventually Northern Iowa had to commit more resources to defend inside, and that made for some space elsewhere on the field.
"Our kicking was also key because it allowed us to pin them within their 22," added Cooney.
Marquette has allowed 40 points in their six conference games this year, and 27 of those came in one game. Every other game they have limited opponents to one or zero tries.
In the 3rd-4th game in the Great Midwest, which selects a seed to the national playoffs, Loyola surged in the second half to beat Wisconsin-Whitewater 25-10.
Grand Valley State
GVSU has swept through the Great Lakes Conference, beating Central Michigan 24-10 to finish atop the standings.
Lock Covy Nyland was player of the game and center Nick Iacavoni was very useful, as well.
It was wet in Michigan as well as Wisconsin, so GVSU kept it a little tighter and exerted pressure on defense.
IUP
As expected, IUP won the Allegheny, putting over 100 on West Virginia in the process. Colton Moyer scored five tries and Brian Arnold added 26 points on four tries and three conversions.
For Head Coach Seth Erwin, the key thing was his team came out of the game without injuries.
Marist
While Marist had beaten the US Merchant Marine Academy twice so far this season, that didn't mean they would win this time in the Tri-State final.
"It's hard to beat a good team three times," said Marist Head Coach James Kimberly.
And it was difficult, but Marist clawed their way through 36-31.
UVM
And in a bit of a shocker, Vermont defeated Norwich 25-7. This was perhaps one of the best examples of the 1995 doctrine (teams that struggle to win can often be better prepared to win tough championship games than teams that had a lot of blowouts). UVM won their semifinal last week 16-9; Norwich on their game 83-5.
Vermont's defense has been excellent this season. In their six conference games this fall they have given up 67 points, with the most being 17 against Bentley. That was a game they won by 34. Every other game has been close, including a tie against UMass-Lowell. What was key for Vermont was that they got players back from injury, some of which were knocked down when they played their first game against Coast Guard. All of this could mean UVM is positioned to make a run.
