Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference

Saint Joseph's University went on to win the 2017 MARC D1AA Fall 15's Championship.  Saint Joseph's played great throughout the weekend with a win over West Chester University in the semi final and then a win against Rowan University in the Championship match.  Both Saint Joseph's and Rowan will continue play this fall as both have secured a spot in the USA Rugby D1AA Collegiate Nationals in Ohio. 

For the Championship, Saint Joseph's beat West Chester 24-7 in the semifinal. Saint Joseph's pulled away in the second half to win the game.  Rowan beat Temple 27-15 in the other semi final.  The match was close at 17-15 in favor of Rowan before Rowan was able to score 2 more times late in the game.  In the Championship match, Saint Joseph's jumped out early with a score from Noah Niumataiwalu. They lead 20-6 at halftime and would go on to win 27-11 in an entertaining game.  

In the Bowl Consolation bracket, Villanova beat Pitt 38-24 in one semi final match and then IUP would beat West Virginia 45-29 in the other. Villanova then played IUP for the Bowl Championship. IUP was able to hold on late to win 27-25 in an exciting match. In addition, West Chester beat Temple for the Plate and Pittsburgh beat West Virginia for the Shield. 

This was a certainly a great season for the MARC D1AA. Best of luck to Saint Joseph's, who will take on Tennessee, and Rowan, who will take on Mary Washington, in the  first round of Nationals on November 18th.  For the rest of the division, it is back to academics. It won't be long until the MARC D1AA Spring 7's Series kicks off!