The Rugby Northeast Men’s DII conference season kicked off with two-time defending champion Bentley just escaping a tough Bryant College team.

The two teams were tied 5-5 late in the game and Bryant had the ball and were on the attack. 

“We played a lot of defense,” said Bentley Coach Brian Pendergast. “We were making tackle after tackle, and then we were able to turn it over.”

Right at the Bentley tryline the Bentley players stole the ball and worked their way 95 meters down to the Bryant tryline, where No. 8 Connor Roberts powered over for the 12-5 victory.

“It was a tough game, and we know it’s going to be a tough conference season,” said Pendergast.

Also winning was Holy Cross, 39-14 over Stonehill, Roger Williams, 30-15 over Providence, and UMass Lowell, 39-8 over St. Michael’s.

SoConn v Merrimack was postponed.

Lowell head Coach Josh Skinner feels good about his team’s prospects.

“With the game growing, seeing kids come into the program with high school experience is always a plus. It's a balance the first few weeks of getting current players up to speed while teaching the new kids everything,” said the coach. “We had a decent pre-season, but lost a few players heading into camp who we were expecting big things from. The competition amongst the conference continues to grow each year, so we're expecting improvement across the board throughout Rugby Northeast. Adding a quality club like Roger Williams is only further proof of that.”