In a battle of two relatively new and successful college programs, Notre Dame College defeated AIC 36-22 Thursday night at AIC’s home field in Springfield, MA.

Led by the elusive Marcus Tupuola, NDC ran out to a 24-5 lead, but were torched for three tries while the Falcons were down a player due to a yellow card. AIC got as close as 24-22, but, back to full strength, NDC closed out the final ten minutes with two tries to seal it 36-22.

“It was right there for us,” said AIC head coach Rob Guiry. “Against top teams you can't let opportunities go to waste.”

"It was right there for us" - AIC coach Rob Guiry

AIC had a penalty five meters from the NDC tryline in the first half, tapped, and knocked on at the tryline. That was a frustration for the Yellowjackets. So, too, was a late chance when Matty Jones chased down a Jihad Khabir kick, but couldn’t quite control the ball - no try and no second comeback.

“I’m proud of the boys,” added Guiry. “They fought hard against a great test. We'll get better from this.”

As for Notre Dame College, the victory was a nice non-conference feather in the Faclons’ cap.

“We did a good job closing space on Jihad and their backline, but he still made an impact,” said head coach Jason Fox, referring to AIC’s dangerous flyhalf. “With the yellow card on our fullback we were shorthanded and they punished us. But we had a strong lineout and did a good job to close it out.”