Men’s D2 college action was somewhat small last weekend in what was the opening shot for several teams.
This coming week will almost triple the number of games involving D2 teams, so we’ve got our work cut out for us in covering them.
Many of the games this past weekend were D2 teams playing opponents outside their divisions. Sometimes that was a game against a DIII opponent in a hybrid conference (West Virginia vs Robert Morris, Minnesota-Duluth vs Winona State) and sometimes it’s a non-conference, warmup game against a D1-level side, such as East Carolina vs North Carolina State, UNC Wilmington vs North Carolina, and Salisbury vs West Chester.
So, then, for the all-D2 there was actually only one match. Cornell showed very well in a 50-12 defeat of the University at Albany. Cornell got two tries and a strong defensive showing by Collin Feeney. This was Feeney’s first game for Big Red.
This was a very promising start for Cornell in a very competitive Liberty D2 conference.
Conference Games
IUP beat Slippery Rock 33-5. Slippery Rock, who play in D3. This is part of the Allegheny Conference cross-divisional competition, because there are only four D2 teams in the Allegheny Conference. The Hawks had opened against NCR D1 Wheeling University and lost the week before. That was a good test for the IUP and they responded against Rock with a solid performance.
IUP dominated territory but couldn’t punch it through the Slippery Rock defense, having to settle for three Mason Steed penalty goals and 9-0 lead.
In the second half, captain and flyhalf Santino Fischio scored two tries while Malcolm Johnson and vice captain Jayce Brooks touched down as the Hawks pulled away 33-5. Steed added 13 points with the boot while Fischio was player of the game.
Also in the Allegheny, West Virginia dropped a 21-12 decision to DIII Robert Morris.
In the Northern Lights, the season is well underway. St. John’s beat Moorhead in an all-DIII match, taking the contest 30-12. MSU Mankato won the all-D2 clash with North Dakota State 43-15. With several new players in their backline Mankato still hit the ground running.
Minnesota Duluth won 48-5 over Winona State, with No. 8 Alex Weiczorek player of the game with three tries.
“We have a huge influx of new guys and all returning players are strong,” said Duluth Head Coach Taylor Schnell. The Bulldogs brought in a number of players from the Edina HS program. Schnell said “it could be bumpy” at times but the young players will see what college rugby is all about and grow from there.