It's already time to think about the playoff scenarios in some conferences, and since the Liberty has multiple levels, let's look at them.
(We'll talk about DII in a separate article. Why? Because we said so.)
Liberty NCR D1
As expected there are three undefeated teams in the Liberty NCR D1 league now after the weekend's action.
The key game there was Iona vs Dartmouth, as both came into the weekend without a loss. Iona's defense was outstanding to hold Dartmouth to just the one try in winning 20-5.
Led by Conor Byrne at flanker and with the halfback combination of Sean Donohue (a freshman) and Archil Kvaratshkheila working nicely together, Iona is putting the pieces in place.
James Phelps has been very good at fullback. But the story seems to be that the Iona forwards as a unit are making a massive impact. They controlled the lineout and the scrums, starving Dartmouth of good possession. And while the scoring opportunities aren't always coming together, the Gaels are getting enough of them to win.
"We controlled the game from beginning to end but couldn't put the numbers on the board.
Byrne runs the lineout and he does that smartly, while his defense and his work over the ball lead the team. Jordan McKenzie was accurate in his lineout throws and was also a defensive leader, while Anthony Antonelli is the team's anchor at lock.
Among the backs Kvaratshkheila's kicking kept Dartmouth pinned back and Phelps handled Dartmouth's kicks without putting a hair out of place.
So all that sets up Iona to take on Brown this coming weekend.
Brown, as we reported earlier, beat Fairfield in a good performance, but perhaps not a great performance.
Brown Does Just Enough to Beat Fairfield
They didn't quite finish as well as they are capable of, but it was enough to get them to 4-0.
And Siena moved to 4-0 with a 52-8 defeat of Nazareth. Paced by a pair of tries by each of the captains—outside center Ben Burridge and No. 8 Andrew McCallum. Flyhalf Isaac Frost ran the attack well and converted five tries.
Siena's attack is firing nicely with an average of 37 points per game and they are allowing an average of 11 per game.
So it looks at though those three teams will finish up in the semifinals. Iona has two games left, against Brown and then Nazareth. Brown has Iona and Dartmouth, which is a tough way to end the regular season.
Dartmouth faces Fairfield and Brown, and could lose either of those games. Siena plays a Fordham team that has hung tough in every game.
The complication is that Iona and Siena were supposed to play each other, but their game was called due to lightning and somehow they couldn't squeeze in a reschedule.
In the end Dartmouth is nicely poised to grab that fourth semifinal spot, but it could be that the Dartmouth-Fairfield game will decide that.
