Scranton, Salisbury Land Key Victories in MARC D2

11.02.2025College Men

University of Scranton Team 2025.

If you’re looking for top D2 contenders from the Mid-Atlantic, we might have discovered something this week.

Scranton won a very good victory over Villanova 35-12 to improve to 5-1 and remain atop the MARC D2 North.

This was a typically stingy defensive effort for the Royals. Since their September 13 loss to Towson (46-31) they have given up 50 points in five games, wins against Widener, Bucknell, Bloomsburg, and East Stroudsburg, as well as Villanova.

“Heading into match we knew a few things about Villanova,” said Head Coach Quinn Connaboy. “They have scoring power, they are all technically sound, and the back three support much of their attack. To combat this we knew dominate tackles had to be made, communication had to be up for our 15 and wings, and above all we needed to be patient and know we need to play phase rugby.”

Patience WIns

With distractions all around, including having their coach out of town, the player leadership needed to be excellent, and it was.

“Experienced players took on leadership roles, newer players stepped up on pitch, and the result was a team win against a strong Villanova team,” said Conaboy.

The defensive pressure was impressive and with Scranton making dominant tackles they ensured Villanova was too much on their back foot.

Wings Prosper Yallah and Aiden Cancio played the edges well and everyone worked hard.

The result was more possession for Scranton, who got the lead early with Anthony Vitello powering through tacklers on an eightman pick. Nova responded but a Scranton penalty made it 8-7 at halftime.

Conaboy said the halftime discussing was about being patient and methodical, and making Villanova defend and get fatigues.

It worked well. Strong running from captain Sean Comiskey, Shane Rowland, and man of match Mike Chino resulted in tries.

Villanova started to infringe and cards meant they were down a player for much of the second half.

So as the penalties piled up Scranton started quick tapping.

Center Patrick George carried and drew defenders in well, which opened up space for Liam Fritz to score on the outside.

Sharks Bite Rivals

Meanwhile, Salisbury stayed undefeated and in 1st in the MARC D2 South with a 34-27 win over rivals Towson.

This was an entertaining, back-and-forth game and either team could have won. Salisbury scored first but Towson responded with three tries to lead 17-7. The Sharks answered with two tries to make it 17-all at halftime.

And in the second half they scored twice more to lead 27-17. But Towson stormed back to tie it. With time winding down Salisbury managed to get the ball off the restart, pressure the line, and eventually scored on a penalty try to win it 34-27.

So we have a good idea of who might be tops in the conference, but this remains anyone’s competition, and there is always a surprise.