If there’s a championship clash in the Liberty Conference Challenge, you might argue it's Cortland v Northeastern.

Of the three division winners in the Liberty, Cortland and NU are two of them. The other, Iona, is in California playing Saint Mary's. So this leaves the Maddogs and the Red Dragons to duke it out.

"With no rugby this past weekend it was a good chance for us to reset after a long regular season," said Cortland captain and fullback Ryan Crowe, who called the Challenge match an opportunity for the Red Dragons to test themselves.

"They are going to be a physical side, but this is what we get every week in the New England division," added Crowe. "I fully expect us to match them physically, and shut them down defensively."

Well, Cortland might have something to say about that. 

"Having improved throughout the season, we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to win a challenge match to cap off an impressive season as a new team in the conference," said Cortland captain and flyhalf Elliott Butler. 

And he makes a point. Cortland was a DII team before moving all the way up to D1A, and winning the division.

"We know going into this game we are going to have to be very sound defensively, because we know they are good with ball in hand," said Cortland hooker Mike Dotzler. "After working on our adjustments at practice I'm excited to see how well we are going to play, especially knowing this is something myself and a bunch of the guys having been working towards for the past couple years to get to this point and this great  opportunity." 

Well, NU is pretty confident, too. The Maddogs played UConn a couple of weeks ago in a game between undefeated teams, and Northeastern won by 48.

"In the UConn game where we played our best rugby yet," said NU scrumhalf Louis Mollet. "All the boys are looking forward to this weekend. The pack has been a strong point all season and the backs are starting to hit another gear so Saturday's match should be fun."

Check out Northeastern v Cortland LIVE on FloRugby on Saturday.