Paced by three tries from Chris Burian Penn State defeated the University at Buffalo 57-17 in Rugby East play.

 

Penn State improved to 2-1 and gained a little on first-place Kutztown, which had no league game this weekend. For Buffalo, it’s now an 0-3 record but Coach Mike Hodgins said he was looking for his team to fix mistakes as they went through the season. Unfazed by the losses, Hodgins has called this move up to DIA to be a learning experience, and is looking for his team to improve.

 

It’s been a learning experience for other teams, too. Iona is one. They lost 26-19 to Army in a game that was perhaps a lot closer than the Black Knights expected.

 

Iona ran out to a 12-0 lead with tries from Evan Staikos and Agron Balaj, but Army got back on track with tries from Jacob Banarhall and Collum Magee, with Logan Pearce converting both for 14-12 lead early in the second half.

 

In an entertaining and physical game, Iona battled hard and looked good in the lineouts, but were tested by Army’s kicking game and speed out wide.

 

Andrew Fargo and David Huff scored to make it 26-12 Army, and then they held off a late charge from Iona. taikos scored again to make it 26-19. Magee, captain and flanker, was again brilliant.

"First of all, we came out with the win, so that's the important part," Pearce told GoArmy Sports. "They came out playing tough and we just weren't ready for it at this point, but we're working to get better every week, so you can expect us to come out even harder next week."

 

And Wheeling Jesuit moved to 2-1 with a 29-10 defeat of St. Bonaventure.

 

This sets up two weeks of massive games in the Rugby East. Penn State plays Kutztown next week, and then a week later Army hosts Kutztown. Those two games will decide who is top in the conference.

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