In a meeting of two undefeated teams in the Great Lakes Men's DII Conference, Grand Valley State held off upstarts Bethel College 16-8.

GVSU is the perennial Great Lakes top dog, but Bethel, newly up from the small college ranks, has been winning at a very noticeable pace. This game promised to be hotly contested, and so it was.

"Bethel is not hype; they are a very good team," said GVSU Head Coach John Mullett. "This game went our way in the end, but either team could have won."

GVSU got some big performances from Dylan Heyvaert, Cam Maher, and Dan Gallagher, and Louis Ricard kicked superbly. They needed all of it as the game was 13-8 with time winding down, and Ricard was finally able to ice it late.

"Hats off to GVSU," said Bethel assistant Darrel Knowlton.

Hats off also to GVSU assistant coach Lance Hohaia, who made some key adjustments at halftime.

"Lance made several adjustments within the backline defensive structure in response to their offensive setups," said Mullett. "They needed an overload or territory and we just kept triangulating with wings, fullback and, at times, our short side flanker. The guys respond to Lance’s assignments and as a result we always had Bethel’s kicks covered. If we don't have Lance Hohaia on our bench, we do not win this game."

Mullett also praised Bethel for the team's discipline. The game was intense, close, and very physical, but neither team resorted to cheap shots.

Both teams tried to use their kicking for territory to set up scoring chances. GVSU was ust a little bit more successful, mostly because those defensive adjustments allowed Grand Valley to respond to Bethel's kicking more quickly.

Ricard at flyhalf kicked well enough to force more Bethel players back, and then took advantage by putting support runners into the extra space.

"We could try to suck in the defending backline, recycle quickly, lower the chance of sloppy knock-ons with easier shorter passes, and then create the space wide to kick it deep and chase," said Mullett. It didn't hurt to have Corey Smykowski, a 6-4 center who was a defensive end on the GVSU football team, powering through gaps.

So this result makes it likely for GVSU to win the conference, although Mullett said an upcoming game against Oakland is not a gimme. Regardless, both teams think they might have done enough to earn an at-large chance for the runner up.

"Bethel has made the conference stronger," said Knowlton. "This game is what good college rugby is suppose to be about."