Another hyper-competitive Keystone Conference season is two weeks away, but already the top teams are getting on the field.

 

Last year, St. Joe’s, Shippensburg, and West Virginia all ended with 2013 fall season with 5-1 records, with the Red Hawks losing out on bonus points, and WVU edging Ship on points difference. WVU beat Princeton to make the national DIAA quarterfinals in the spring, before losing to San Diego, but it seems clear both Shippensburg and St. Joseph's are at that level, as well.

 

West Virginia now faces varsity DII team Notre Dame College as part of NDC’s push to harden their players (in competitive terms) by playing DI opponents. It’s a first run-out for WVU and they might be undercut by Notre Dame, which has already played a couple of games.

 

St. Joe’s faces Ivy League team Columbia. 

 

“The team is looking good,” enthused Head Coach Dan Yarusso. “We are trying to get our continuity up and the guys are excited to start the season. We have a  good group of freshman in so we are excited to see what they can do.”

 

Among the new players are Tom Cuddihy (former Gonzaga lock) and Chris Curcio (former Archmere Academy wing), who won’t start but are on the bench and will be expecting significant time.

 

This is as tight a conference as you could hope for, with those three teams hardly any different from each other. 

 

WVU opens the season Sept. 20 at West Chester, while St. Joe’s visits Pitt, and Shippensburg plays the new team in the conference, Rutgers.

 

Rutgers is coming off a 1-8 season in the Empire Conference and a are complete wild card in the Keystone.