Bucknell, Scranton Lead MARC D2 North
Bucknell, Scranton Lead MARC D2 North
Bucknell and Scranton moved to 2-0 in the MARC D2 North after wins over the weekend.
Neither of these teams is all that separated from the rest of the conference as Villanova and Bloomsburg are both at 1-0 and right behind them.
Scranton moved to 2-0 by beating East Stroudsburg 81-12.
It's been a good start, said Head Coach Quinn Conaboy, and they have found success scoring in a number of different ways. In their opening win over Lehigh, a rather bizarre 79-46 scoreline that has more in common with Aussie Rules or basketball, the defense wasn't so strong.
"We let Lehigh drop more points on us then we would have liked," said Conaboy. "So we've been working on an aggressive front foot defense and trying to close down space and make more dominate tackles so we can try and steal. The fellas love to run and score so we're trying to create as many offensive opportunities as possible. We’ve got an experienced 23. and then some, with scoring power throughout the roster."
Numbers are good at Scranton and that helps the depth and the competition for places, which raises the level.
"We’ve been lucky to have 50-plus guys at practices so we’ve been able up the work rates, have physical practices, and really create competition at multiple positions," said Conaboy.
Scranton is led by captain and scrumhalf Aidan Guarnuccio, a two-time all-conference halfback who had also played with the NY Foundry, the New York Ironworkers (MLR) academy program. He is a big part of the team's continuity and getting quick ball out to the attacking players.
Benefiting from this has been wings Senan Price and Colm Shalvey, who have scored a total of eight tries in the first two games.
"Both are have a tremendous amount of pace and are experienced Gaelic Footballers, so the kicking game has translated well," said Conaboy.
Flanker Anthony Vitiello has been punishing both defensively and with ball in hand.
For Bucknell, they moved to 2-0 with a 68-24 defeat of Lehigh (who now have scored 70 points in two games and are winless!).
Bucknell's success has, in part, been down to an improved defense. Head Coach Seth Gazes has credited that to the addition of new assistant coach Santiago Roig, who joined Bucknell from Universitario Club de Rugby in Tucuman, Argentina.
Rois, said Gazes, "had been instrumental in improving our defense, forward play, and working with our young scrumhalves."
Bucknell is quite young with only four seniors after 12 players from last year graduated. Four freshmen, including two rugby rookies, are starting.
Meanwhile senior center Damien Mahanama has been creating opportunities on offense and leading the backs in defense. Senior front-rower Peter Patouhas has returned from a semester abroad in Tours, France, and has raised his play, working hard in set piece and around the field.
English fullback Harrison Sotir has been finishing tries and freshman Keith Pritchyk has broken into the starting lineup in his first year playing rugby by embracing learning the game and now suiting up at lock.
Elsewhere in the MARC
All that was just in the North. In the South, Towson is going to be 2-0 after the weekend. They beat Shippensburg September 9 and will get a forfeit win next week. Georgetown is 2-0 after beating UMBC 51-0 over the weekend with wing Anthony Altobelli scoring three tries and adding three conversions to score 21 points and earn player-of-the-game honors. Luke McMahon, Aubrey Aird, Andrew Maloney, Yanis Belkhelladi, Gavin Brady, and Quinn Zebrowski also crossed the tryline for the Hoyas.
So, where are we now in this conference? The big game is probably Villanova at Bucknell, with both teams being undefeated and both having been in national playoffs before. Georgetown takes on Mount St. Mary's C team, which plays in the MARC league, and Bloomsburg takes on East Stroudsburg.
