Liberty Kicks Off D1 Season
Liberty Kicks Off D1 Season
The Liberty D1 season got going this weekend with four games: Brown vs Siena, Dartmouth vs Syracuse, AIC vs Fairfield, and Iona vs Fordham.
All four games were competitive, or even extremely close.
AIC vs Fairfield
Early-season rustiness might explain the lack of offense in this one. AIC opened the scoring with a penalty goal from flyhalf German Rossi. Fairfield answered with a try and that slim 5-3 lead held on until the game was almost over.
A late penalty allowed Rossi to line up the game-winner, which he promptly put over, giving AIC the 6-5 win.
"Great defensive game," said Fairfield Head Coach Austin Ryan. "Terrible conditions. Fairfield didn’t let in a try. AIC held their lines well."
Both teams struggled with adjusting to the new tackle height, and in fact the final penalty was indeed a high tackle.
Dartmouth vs Syracuse
Dartmouth beat Syracuse 39-13. The Big Green was led by Jamie Philips, who scored four tries and added to that with plenty of off-the-ball work.
“The forwards gave us a strong platform in the set piece and the team brought a lot of physicality,” said Dartmouth Head Coach Kyle Sumsion. “We will look to continue to build upon [that physicality] as we take on Iona this week.”
Iona vs Fordham
Iona beat Fordham 23-16 which is a solid start for the Gaels.
Brown vs Siena
Brown doubled up a very tough Siena team 22-11 in a result that probably shines both teams in a good light. The weather contributed to the low scoring, too.
"We had some poor execution in a few areas that we need to sort out this week," said Brown Head Coach David LaFlamme. "I think we left some points off the board because of this."
Four freshmen started for Brown and played well and LaFlamme said he saw a good performance from his 2nd team, so the Brown depth seems strong.
