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New-Look Fall for Northern Lights

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DII College, Men DII College, Northern Lights, St. John's, Minnesota-Duluth

New-Look Fall for Northern Lights

The Northern Lights Conference is led by two-time DII national champs Minnesota-Duluth. Henry Elholm photo.
08.15.2016 - Alex Goff

The Northern Lights Men’s DII season kicks off in about a month with a slight change in how the league is organized.

The defending national DII champs, Minnesota-Duluth, is of course back, with tough opposition Mankato, Bemidji State, and North Dakota State hoping to bring UMD back down to earth.

But also in the Northern Lights top tier will be St. Thomas and St. John’s. Those two teams are in the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO), and last year were in an NSCRO-specific league.

But St. John’s, which won the NSCRO national championships in 2013 and 2014, wanted more competition.

 “One of the reasons we won NSCRO before was that we had strong competition,” said SJU Coach Dan Franklin. “I am really looking forward to this season because it will make us better. 

Last year our competition wasn’t the strongest and we didn’t make it to NSCRO final four. This year, with Minnesota-Duluth, Bemidji State and others, we have better competition earlier.”

St. Thomas and Wisconsin-River Falls both followed St. John’s into the top tier. St. Thomas and St. John’s are big rivals in other sports, as well.

Those three teams will still pursue an NSCRO title in their postseason, but the consensus is that the presence of the stronger NSCRO teams will help the Northern Lights.

For SJU, this season will be a rebound year.

“We graduated our 9-10 combo and a prop, but the rest are coming back,” said Franklin. “And those guys have learned it’s not automatic.”

It won’t be automatic with the two-time defending DII champs Minnesota-Duluth in the league. UMD has undergone a big change, with Head Coach Jeramy Katchuba stepping down and Dean Walsh taking over. Katchuba will still have a role with the team, but certainly UMD will have to make some adjustments.

 

9/17/2016 St. Thomas at Winona Northern Lights
9/17/2016 UND at Mankato Northern Lights
9/17/2016 Bemidji at SCSU Northern Lights
9/17/2016 NDSU at UMD Northern Lights
9/17/2016 Southwest at Carleton N-Lights Tier 2
9/17/2016 St. Scholastica at Gustavus N-Lights Tier 2
9/17/2016 MSU - Moorhead at UofM - Morris N-Lights Tier 2
9/17/2016 St. Olaf at Macalester N-Lights Tier 2
9/17/2016 UWRF at St. Johns N-Lights Tier 2
9/24/2016 UND at Winona Northern Lights
9/24/2016 Mankato at Bemidji Northern Lights
9/24/2016 St. Thomas at UWRF Northern Lights
9/24/2016 UMD at SCSU Northern Lights
9/24/2016 St. Johns at NDSU Northern Lights
9/24/2016 Gustavus at Southwest N-Lights Tier 2
9/24/2016 Carleton at St. Scholastica N-Lights Tier 2
9/24/2016 MSU - Moorhead at St. Olaf N-Lights Tier 2
9/24/2016 UofM - Morris at Macalester N-Lights Tier 2
10/1/2016 Winona at UMD Northern Lights
10/1/2016 Mankato at St. Thomas Northern Lights
10/1/2016 Bemidji at UND Northern Lights
10/1/2016 UWRF at NDSU Northern Lights
10/1/2016 SCSU at St. Johns Northern Lights
10/1/2016 St. Scholastica at Southwest N-Lights Tier 2
10/1/2016 Gustavus at Carleton N-Lights Tier 2
10/1/2016 St. Olaf at UofM - Morris N-Lights Tier 2
10/1/2016 Macalester at MSU - Moorhead N-Lights Tier 2
10/8/2016 Winona at Bemidji Northern Lights
10/8/2016 St. Johns at Mankato Northern Lights
10/8/2016 St. Thomas at UND Northern Lights
10/8/2016 UWRF at UMD Northern Lights
10/8/2016 NDSU at SCSU Northern Lights
10/8/2016 Carleton at St. Olaf N-Lights Tier 2
10/8/2016 UofM - Morris at St. Scholastica N-Lights Tier 2
10/15/2016 Mankato at Winona Northern Lights
10/15/2016 Bemidji at St. Thomas Northern Lights
10/15/2016 UND at NDSU Northern Lights
10/15/2016 SCSU at UWRF Northern Lights
10/15/2016 UMD at St. Johns Northern Lights
10/15/2016 Southwest at MSU - Moorhead N-Lights Tier 2
10/15/2016 Macalester at Gustavus N-Lights Tier 2

 

DII College, Men DII College, Northern Lights, St. John's, Minnesota-Duluth