(Lynda Hodgins photo)

Syracuse and Buffalo have secured tThe top two seeds from the New York State conference for the Northeast playoffs, but the third seed is still up for grabs.

Brockport and Albany will battle it out for the final NYS seed.

Brockport has one hand on the playoff berth after an 86-5 win over Canisius College. Brockport led 55-0 at halftime.

Doggies head coach Mike Hodgins had this to say; “I would like to give full credit to Canisius. They never gave up during the game and played with respect. I believe this can be credited to their coaching staff.”

Albany has been in the New York spotlight this season, but had a disappointing Saturday going down 24-7 to Cortland. After the first forty the score was 19-0. “We didn’t play that well, and they beat us. They stuck it to us today,” said John Durant of Albany.

This was an important game for the Danes, one they needed to win to give themselves a shot at that third seed. There’s still a chance though, since it’s mathematically possible for Albany to finish the regular season with a better points differential than Brockport, depending on the outcome of next week’s game when they go head to head.

Elsewhere, Buffalo was ready to play. They were not about to let happen this week what happened last, especially on their turf during their homecoming game. On a windy day in Buffalo, the home team shut out Binghamton 48-0.

At halftime the score was 29-0. “UB dominated us. They went off the rucks and broke through every time, capitalizing very well on the offloads. We can’t compete with that size,” Binghamton’s Jonathan McGovern told ARN.

Try-corers were freshmen lock Matt Culek, hailing from Kenmore West High School, and freshmen flyhalf Kevin McKenna from McQuaid High School in Rochester.

“We expected to win this game, and we did so by playing mistake free rugby,” added Buffalo head coach Mickey McGuire.

Syracuse versus Cornell ended in a ridiculous 100-0 blowout to the Hammerheads. “It was a beautiful day for running rugby,” said Bob Wilson of Syracuse.

And run they did, a lot, all over Cornell who is finishing a rough season. An unfortunate and peculiar turn for a team that led the competition in New York State in previous years; but what comes around, goes around and this year it is someone else’s turn.

Standings (unofficial):
Syracuse (6-0)
Buffalo (5-1)
Brockport (4-2)
Albany (3-3)
Binghamton (3-3)
Cortland (2-4)
Cornell (1-5)
Canisius (0-6)