Tri-State Almost to Playoffs

Siena defeated RPI and Sacred Heart defeated Marist to retain 1st place in the Tri-State North for Sacred Heart.

William Paterson beat College of New Jersey to finished 4-0 in the Tri-State South, and Vassar, with three tries from Trevor Kennish, is now 5-0, setting up a showdown with SUNY New Paltz for the final weekend.

The playoff matchups are almost set, with Sacred Heart, Siena, and RPI for sure in the quarterfinals from the North. Marist (1-3) plays winless Hofstra and if Marist wins, then that team takes the 4th spot in the playoffs.

William Paterson has just about sewn up the #1 seed in the South, with NJIT and Molloy right behind.

Defending conference champs RPI is still solid at 3-1, but got a bit of a wakeup call with the loss to Siena.

Siena took an early lead when fullback Brett Gaughan broke through the defensive line and scored under the posts. Gaughan also slotted the conversion for a 7-0 lead. At 27 minutes, flyhalf Mike Gallagher beat his defender and made a timely offload to wing Drake Sichak for a try. RPI threatened but a turnover deep in Siena territory was marched down the field and an infraction at 32 minutes gave Gaughan a penalty kick for a 15-0 lead. A stout RPI defense at the goal line prevented an additional score as time expired.

A misplay by Siena on the second half kickoff put RPI in business. The Engineers worked hard and reversed the ball for a nice try in the midfield. RPI seemed to get energy from that, but Siena held on, and then, at 67 minutes the Saints backs were able to hook up and covered 80 meters with the ball in hand. From the ruck near the line, flanker Elesio Baldizzi powered over which made it, with the conversion, 22-7. From the restart, Siena moved the ball smartly and Sichak raced 50 meters for his second. Gaughan's third conversion made it 29-7. A converted try by the RPI near the end closed it to 29-14.