Last weekend’s play-in matches kicked off the DII Tri-State conference playoffs and now the league is readying for the quarterfinals on Sunday, Oct. 21. Each round will receive its own weekend (i.e., no doubleheaders) for the next three weeks and roll right into the USA Rugby Fall Round of 32 on Nov. 10.
All of the North division teams (save Albany, which is not eligible for playoffs) took automatic berths to the quarterfinals, as did the South’s top-ranked team, Fairfield University. Last weekend saw the remaining South teams vie for the final two spots. Stony Brook defeated Hofstra 69-17, and New Haven beat Monroe College 32-27. This Sunday, the lower seeds hosts the following quarterfinals:
#1 Vassar – #8 New Haven
#4 New Paltz – #5 Siena
#3 RPI – # 6 Fairfield
#2 Marist – #7 Stony Brook
Vassar is the heavy favorite to repeat as conference champion and is currently ranked #1 among DII fall colleges. Last weekend, the Brewers played a non-league game against Bowdoin College, an NCAA program competing in NIRA, and got the push it was looking for. After trailing at the half, Vassar rallied for a 39-33 win (read more).
Marist gave Vassar a good game, holding the lead twice during the first half of their regular-season encounter, but the Brewers ultimately pulled away for a 43-point win.
The semifinal round occurs on Oct. 27 and the higher seed will host, and then RPI will be the destination for the four remaining teams, which will contest the final and 3rd place game. Tri-State has received three berths to the Fall Round of 32 in the past, and those cross-conference games begin on Nov. 10. Vassar is one of two women’s college sites for the Fall Rounds of 16/8 on Nov. 17-18 (Columbia, Mo. is the other), and those victors will advance to the Fall Final Four, Dec. 1-2 in Charlotte, N.C.
Additionally, Tri-State’s NSCRO teams contest their conference semifinals this weekend:
#4 Drew University – #1 Montclair State
#3 Manhattanville College – #2 Fordham
The higher seeds will then host the championship and third-place games on Oct. 28. NSCRO contests a national 15s championship, and the Rounds of 16/8 occur Nov. 10-11, leaving three weeks before the final.