Pivotal Early Week in NIRA DI
Pivotal Early Week in NIRA DI
We're already into the 2nd week of the NIRA D1 and we've got a couple of pivotal matches.
Stung
Feeling the sting of a big loss, Brown and Quinnipiac will face off in Connecticut and we'll see who can bounce back from a rough start. Brown's late tries against Sacred Heart might be a signal that they already made some adjustments.
"We saw some strong moments from a number of our student-athletes today against an impressive Sacred Heart team," Brown Head Coach Rosalind Chou said after last week's. "We have installed a lot of new systems and have asked a lot of this team in preseason. The team really settled in during the second half, and our bench really infused intensity. We have a lot of great data, so we can improve on some areas next weekend."
Follow-Up
Dartmouth won well in Week One, which was basically to be expected, although their 59-0 shutout of Quinnipiac was perhaps a bit more emphatic than many would expect. They now visit the US Naval Academy which won impressively 58-7 over Queens University Charlotte. Navy unleashed some strong carriers and put in perhaps their best performance as a varsity program.
Now the Midshipmen will have to face the four-straight NIRA finalists Dartmouth to follow up on that performance.
Army lost in their opening weekend but they played tough and were perhaps a surprising challenge to Lindenwood in their 34-22 defeat. Again, they will be looking to follow up on that performance and build on it. The Black Knights will face another team that started strong, with the very speedy Long Island University Sharks showcasing an ability to score from almost anywhere.
Neutral Site
Sacred Heart did indeed look impressive in their opening win over Brown. Queens, meanwhile, will look to rebound from their opening loss to Navy. This is a young Queens team and a fairly seasoned SHU side ... and that makes a difference.
They will meet up in Maryland and that's an interesting development in NIRA. Some programs have expressed trepidation about NIRA because of the travel distances and issues. But that has been addressed for some, notable Queens, Davenport, and Lindenwood, with neutral-site games. By splitting the difference, these teams can be included.
There are NCAA teams not competing in NIRA in part because of travel issues, but it's workable. Lindenwood will play Queens in Nashville in October. They will also double-up on next weekend's action, playing Quinnipiac on the Firday and Princeton on the Sunday in Connecticut. With an away game at Davenport in Michigan a fairly easy trip, their biggest trip is this weekend, in Massachusetts.
Davenport's opening match was a neutral-site match against New Haven and they have another neutral-site game on the slate. And, as we've shown you, Queens is doing the same.
And the Little Matter of a Clash of Champions ...
Lindenwood has won six D1 Elite championship over the past seven season that had a championship (something happened in the spring of 2021 and we're happy to say we've starting to forget what it was). Harvard has won three of the last five NIRA titles, including the last two.
So, yes, Lindenwood travels to Cambridge, Mass. to face a Harvard side that won comfortably over AIC in a non-conference tilt last week.
This is the Clash of Champions ... a matchup that happened in the fall of 2023 when in a non-conference match Lindenwood beat Dartmouth 30-15 (all tries, no conversions) in New Hampshire. Bragging rights? Yes, you betcha. A harbinger of the final? We'll see,
Lindenwood were tested bby Army and Head Coach Trevor Locke said his team wasn't as accurate as he'd like.
The star backs on the Crimson team were starring again last week and there's a confident air about their play. This should be a classic.
Check back for scores:
| 9/6 | Brown | 14-33 | Quinnipiac | KO 1:00 PM ET-Watch |
| 9/6 | Dartmouth | 52-7 | Navy | KO 11:00 AM ET-Watch |
| 9/6 | Lindenwood | 17-26 | Harvard | KO 11:00 AM ET-Watch |
| 9/6 | LIU | 0-38 | Army | KO 1:00 PM ET-Watch |
| 9/6 | Sacred Heart | 91-0 | Queens | KO 11:00 AM ET |