In perhaps the biggest upset of the weekend in Men’s DII College rugby, RPI defeated Vassar.

It wasn’t so much the fact that Rensselaer Polytechnic won the game, but the fact that the scoreline was 56-14. RPI is just outside the Goff Rugby Report rankings, while Vassar was ranked #28.

Those rankings were based in part on RPI’s 16-12 loss at the beginning of the season, when the Engineers had only been on campus about a week, and weren’t a settled team yet.

“We’ve got our positions settled now,” said club president Will Howard, who switched from outside center to inside center during the last couple of weeks. “We had some injuries and were missing a few guys early, but we’ve had a set roster and the team overall is very solid. Since I’ve been at RPI we usually have good forwards or good backs, but this year we have both and they are mixing in with each other really well.”

Leading the way is Evan St.Angelo at prop, who has been a force up front and covers the field like a loose forward. He controls the scrum and also fills in nicely in the backline when needed.

The backline itself has done well, with Frank Emory at fullback slicing up defenses, and freshman and BC High School product Steve Dudch playing well at outside center. Dudch was originally put at fullback, but he proved to be the kind of player who needed the ball in his hands a bit more, so Howard slid over and that midfield has worked nicely.

“He’s a lot faster than me and I’m bigger, so it’s good,” said Howard. “It’s been nice to work with him. He’s a freshman and he’s come in and played well but he’s not cocky about it at all.”

Meanwhile, it’s not all settled in the Tri-State Conference. Siena beat Marist 28-27, and at 3-1 is breathing down the necks of Vassar and RPI. Marist and RPI play next week.

In the Tri-State South, Molloy beat Montclair State to stay undefeated, and NJIT is solid at second after winning by forfeit.

“We’re looking forward to the Marist game, that’s a big game,” said RPI’s Howard. “If we win that we should have a good shot at getting the 1st seed in our division. But right now we’re just happy to be playing better.”