It's a busy weekend in D1A and here's a rundown of what happened, and who made a move to challenge for a conference title.
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Liberty
Fordham Rugby defeated the University of Connecticut 25-12 to stay unbeaten in conference play. The Rams got another good day from Finn McCarrick kicked well for points, and got an excellent day's work from the forwards.
Iona defeated Stony Brook 72-5 with Mike Marros scoring 21 points on three tries and three conversions, and Tyler Ringwood also scoring three tries.
Albany defeated SUNY Cortland 27-10, and Colgate defeated Brockport 41-15 behind four tries from No. 8 Bennett Moore.
UMass continued its strong run of form with a 57-0 defeat of Tufts
Big 10
Michigan State and Illinois battled to a close game through most of the afternoon before MSU pulled away 38-17. With Wisconsin winning big over Michigan (76-7) and Indiana winning well over Purdue (45-17) desipte a 17-17 score with 25 to go, the league looks pretty crowded. There are plenty of games still to come.
Rocky Mountain
Everything is up in the air in the Rocky Mountain after Air Force held off Colorado 33-25. Down 18-12 at halftime, Air Force got tries from flyhalf Ryan Connelly and prop Thomas Cox to lead 26-18. Colorado made it a one-point game with a try from scrumhalf Jordan Savage, converted by Wil Long. But fullback Eric Menser went over, and converted to seal the game and deny Colorado a close-loss bonus point. Menser scored 13 points on four conversions and that try.
With Colorado State beating New Mexico 61-26 it's crowded atop the east division, with Colorado at 2-1, Air Force 1-1, and CSU 2-1.
Rugby East
Army remains undefeated after staying ahead of Kutztown 24-17. Bailey Abercombie, Paul Adams, and Will Miller, plus a pile of forwards, scored four tries for Army, with Miller's turning a 19-17 lead into a 24-17 final score. Thorne OConnell, Ryan Nolan, and Aaron Grey all touched down for Kutztown.
Army is 3-0 in the conference, while this was Kutztown's first conference game.
St. Bonaventure showed some nifty open-field running in beating Wheeling Jesuit 56-19 in a game that was close through the first 40 minutes. Prop Kyle Ciquera and flyhalf Sebastiano Villani provided much of the scoring for Bonnies while George Roscoe, Frank Rolf, and Alston Burton all touched down for WJU.
This was an important result for St. Bonaventure, which has been trying to climb up the standings over the years. Bonnies is now 2-1.
Independent Games
Defending Rugby East champ Penn State was in a non-conference game, taking on Ohio State in a game that mirrored the football meeting between the two schools. Penn State won 48-14, getting tries from Oren Patel-Champion, Luke O'Malley, Thomas Capriotti, Ian Pearson, Rob Irimsecu, Kyle Crawford, Connor Dellapina, and Joe Freeman. Dellapina also converted four.
Notre Dame also won in a game that mirrors a college football meeting, beating Stanford 33-22. Navy lost to the Norfolk Blues men's club (which usually means that the ships are in port and the Blues had a strong complement of players). Arkansas State shut out Texas.
Those independent games don't have a ton of meaning, but for the University of Notre Dame, every win, even against a D1AA team, is important in signaling the Irish's quality. Right now the Irish are 5-1, and 2-1 against D1A opposition, losing only to Davenport.