Rugby East - Army, Iona, SBU

Army defeated Kutztown in the Rugby East, and St. Bonaventure and Iona also won games Saturday in the conference.

Penn State won Friday night - Penn State over Wheeling Jesuit - going to 7-0 and clinching the conference title with a game to go. Army clinched 2nd Saturday with the 38-19 defeat of Kutztown. Jeff Malm-Annan, Andy Sullivan, and Jake Lachina all scored first-half tries, while Jon Kim added a penalty and two conversions for a 22-0 Army lead.

Kutztown made a game of it with three tries in the second half to make it 27-19, but Torran Raby’s try and a Kim penalty put it away. Sullivan had two tries.

“A good Kutztown attack forced us to defend most of the game,” said West Point Head Coach Matt Sherman, who celebrated his birthday today. “With that being said, I think we answered the call time and time again. It was a really gutsy effort by everyone defensively. I think we can take away that we were more precise in the key moments when we were under pressure than we were a few weeks ago against Penn State. We’re going to need to do that against Air Force, to an even greater extent, and keep our cool when the game is on the line.” 

Iona and St. Bonaventure improved to 3-4 with victories. Iona defeated Buffalo 31-14 in a game that Head Coach Bruce McLane said was not Iona’s best. The Gaels, said McLane, left too many points unclaimed and gave up too much possession. Mike Scarcella and John Petteruti were defensive leaders for Iona, making a majority of the team’s tackles. Mike Marino scored two tries, and John Powers, John D’Allara, and Petteruti scored tries, with Santi Mascolo converting three.

SBU defeated Delaware 39-24. Tries from Christian Artuso, Chaz Schwenk, and Pat McCormack helped stake SBU to a 24-0 lead, and while Delaware clawed their way back to within a try, SBU pulled away late.

So, with only a few games to go in the Rugby East, Penn State is 1st, and Army 2nd. Wheeling Jesuit and Kutztown are still in a battle for 3rd, while Iona plays St. Bonaventure for 5th, and possibly 4th should Kutztown struggle in the closing weeks.