It's a bit of the changing of the guard in Men's D2 college after the first big weekend of competition.
Shifts at the Liberty
It wasn't that long ago that Marist, RPI, and Albany were the top teams in the Liberty sphere. These are all good teams, however we're seeing some others coming to the fore in a conference that is becoming one of the better competitions in the division.
Marist was held to a 12-12 tie by SUNY Oswego. With a high work rate and a strong tight five Oswego may not have won, but they are building depth and this was a good start.
Stony Brook defeated RPI impressively 41-18 in one of their better results in recent years. Thomas Klvana scored two tries to lead the SeaWolves, with John Gross, Blaise Coppola, Gabe Bentley, Michael Chalmers, and Kanye Price all crossing the tryline.
Jamal Merck added six conversions.
RIT was also impressive, shutting out Albany 31-0. This is the next step in what has been a steadily-improving Rochester Institute of Technology side. RIT has added some impressive young talent, such as freshman fullback Zacharie Tourangeau out of the North Pitt high school program.
No. 8 Ioannis Pavlides was capped by Greece last November in a test match against Albania (coming in at 45 minutes at prop).
They lost, but this was still a major accomplishment for the RIT forward.
RIT takes on Marist in Rochester next week.
Cornell remains the team to beat, however. The Big Red ran the table last year and is a serious contender for a NCR national title. This week Cornell beat Nazareth 65-17. Head Coach David Burke said his team has benefited from a relatively early start to the semester and they do tend to hit the ground running.
Cornell takes on Stony Brook in Ithaca next week.
Grizzlies Maul Bobcats
A somewhat new-look Montana side defeated Montana State 55-12 Saturday in the opener for both sides. The High Peaks and Pacific Northwest conferences have a bit of crossover and are fleshing out, what with Boise State joining the fray. There is a lot of rugby to be played here.
