The Liberty Conference has been turned all upside down after SUNY Cortland, just up from DII, defeated previously unbeaten Binghamton 29-14 on Saturday.

Binghamton had started the season strong but found Cortland difficult hosts as Harrison Conn scored two tries for Cortland, with Nathan Butler, Micheal Dotzler, and Jimmy O'Sullivan all touching down once. Dotzler added two conversions.

The victory vaulted SUNY Cortland, which had been in the DII Upstate NY league last year, to 2-0 and first in the Liberty Empire division. Also 2-0 is Syracuse, which thumped Albany 52-5. 

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Flanker Anthony Pugliese started the scoring with a try 11 minutes in for the Syracuse Hammerheads, and the forwards powered the ball over to double the lead at 17 minutes. Pugliese set up Jake Smith for the third try, and with Sam Low kicking the conversions, Matt Kennelly made it 26-0 at the break. Sam Reimnitz, Joe Lombardo, and Alec Posner capped off the try for SU.

Colgate logged its first conference victory with a 34-17 decision at Brockport. The host Doggies actually led for the first half, going up 7-0 and leading 12-10 at halftime. But Colgate got its first lead of the game just inside the second half, with Cris Kusner going over. Tries from Will Pitkin, Dorian Washington, and Michael Rasmussen put the game away for Colgate.

Northeastern beat UMass 37-17 to move to 2-0. An early try from flanker Matt Larouche got Northeaster going, and No. 8 Lowell Haska scored midway through the first half. Center Darren Chan, lock Liam Taylor, fullback Ryan Crowe, and sub Peyton Kay also touched down, while flyhalf David de Luzuriaga kicked a penalty and two conversions.

Tufts University hosted its first-ever D1A home game and defeated Fairfield 34-31 in a physical clash that saw eight lead changes. Six of those lead changes came in the first half, with Tufts scoring just before the break to lead 22-19.

Fairfield scored first in the second half and went up 26-22, but Tufts fought back to take the lead 29-26 after Henry Seidl scored his second try of the game. Then Fairfield went down a player due to a yellow card, and Tufts player Trent Turner scored what turned out to be the game-winner while his team had the man advantage. Fairfield scored in the last five minutes and was attacking in Tufts end of the field when flanker Tommy Reardon jarred the ball loose with a massive tackle to end the game.

On Friday night, Iona slammed Stony Brook 62-14. John D'Allara and John Powers both scored three tries.

"They're working hard to put themselves into position to score," Iona head coach Bruce McLane said.



And Delaware took care of Rutgers 45-15 -- a result that was somewhat surprising given the Blue Hens' struggles of late. Freshman scrumhalf Luke Persanis scored his second try in as many games, and Delaware benefitted from some more possession and not having to be on defense all day. The game was close at halftime, but Delaware did well to keep the scrums to a minimum and to keep the game away from the big Rutgers forwards.

"Not sure we handled them as much as we trusted our skills and wore them down, but I think we deserved the win," Delaware head coach Struan Murray said. 

Half of Murray's game-day squad was comprised of freshmen and sophomores, and they fronted up well. Lock Matt Romeo was a physical force on defense and running with the ball.

"He was really solid and good at all the small things," Murray said.

Flyhalf Leo Bacchieri was named player of the game. The backup scrumhalf behind Persanis, Bacchieri stepped into the No. 10 jersey to fill in for an injury, and his kicking and distribution to runners was excellent.

"Definitely our pass and catch skills were the difference," Murray said. "The guys thought clearly and attacked space using the pass and catch. The ball movement was excellent which was key because we didn't have a good night at the set piece. And our line speed in defense was just excellent. It was a blue collar display with the core skills being the difference."

See all Liberty scores and standings here.