Kutztown University held off a tough Iona College team 33-24 Sunday in Rugby East action to keep pace with undefeated Army.

In a very chippy game, Iona did well to kick for field position and pressure Kutztown defensively. 

“They gave us a lot of trouble,” said Kutztown Head Coach Gregg Jones. “They played well and have improved a great deal. We were sloppy, but I also think both teams had opportunities to score.”

“We made some rookie errors,” added Iona Head Coach bruce McLane. “They played tough and we were good in the lineout for a while, but then stopped doing what we needed to do. I’n proud of the guys and how they stuck to it.”

Wing Jason Denofa, Vetekina Malafu, and fullback Trent Hensley all scored tries for KU, while Jordan Ghyzel had two. Outside center Robert Stortz continued to cause the Gaels problems.

Iona got tries from Andrew Rossi, Tyler Ringwood, Mike Marino, and Sean Hardiman, but they missed a kick late to get a close-loss bonus points.

It was, overall, a good showing by Iona, but KU keeps the win.

Meanwhile, Army blasted West Virginia 63-13. Andrew Boyer, Thomas Del Pino, Jack Ireland, and Donny Goff all scored before WVU got on the board. Freshman Torran Raby, Goff again, and Jacob Banarhall scored after that to make it 43-7. WVU added two penalties but tries from Dom Mori, Ireland, Connor Parker, and Del Pino closed it out. It was a better performance from West Virginia, which has struggled since switching from the Keystone Conference. For Army, it was business as usual.

"With a new blend of players taking the field, it was important that our captains and all of our senior players to look for leadership moments," said West Point Head Coach Matt Sherman. "I think that Donny, Jake and other embraced the responsibility and helped steer the ship forward today. It is important for us to develop depth as a team for multiple reasons. Fortunately for us, we have multiple guys deserving of opportunities through their level of commitment and play. It was great to see some new guys make the most of that opportunity today and push our depth and standard higher."

Wheeling Jesuit won comfortably over St. Bonaventure, while Penn State slammed Buffalo. The only good news for UB was that they got their first points on the board in conference play. It’s been a rough transition year for them. Penn State were unstoppable. 

Next week, Wheeling Jesuit is at Kutztown and Army at Iona, while Buffalo hosts West Virginia. However, all eyes will be on the October 24 clash between Army and Kutztown at Kutztown. That game could well decide the conference.

That will be Army's final conference game, but Kutztown will still have WVU and Penn State to play.