The University of Vermont won a dramatic victory of Rhode Island Saturday to become the only undefeated team in the New England College Rugby Conference.

The two DII men's college teams had run the table so far in the NECRC, and this weekend's game was always going to be a right one. Rhode Island, coming off a physical encounter with Coast Guard, showed no ill effects and score two converted tries to lead 14-0 at halftime.

Slowly UVM inched closer. They scored a try from Kleckner Charles, and then Ben Kaufman, who converted the try, added a penalty. That made it 17-10 URI, and a Rhode Island try put them up 22-10 midway through the second half. Matthew Potter's try, with the Kaufman conversion, brought UVM within a score, and then Dan Lane put them ahead 24-22.

URI replied with a penalty goal with only a few seconds left to lead 25-24. But right from the restart UVM attacked into the Rhode Island half, and a dangerous tackle gave them one more shot, Kaufman, who has been dead-eye accurate all season, slotted the goal to secure the 27-25 victory.

"We didn't make too many adjustments at halftime," said UVM's Address Marin. "It was more of a mentality shift. We felt their two tries in the first half were kind of lucky breaks, and we just kept playing our game, got some momentum going, and Ben was great kicking again. We knew it would be a close game, and it will be a close game next week, too."

That's right, the two teams face off once more, this time in Burlington, Vt., in a game for 1st in the conference.