Angel Fay was influential in Coast Guard’s win over Bloomsburg. /// Photo courtesy USCG Academy Women’s Rugby Club •
All of Saturday’s DII fall Round of 16 matches were determined by large point differentials. Sunday’s quarterfinals will narrow the field down to four, which will advance to Furman University Dec. 3-4 for the fall championship.
All stats pulled from USA Rugby’s CMS
Three of the four 2015 semifinalists are still in the running, but Bloomsburg has been eliminated. Coast Guard beat the MARC champion 48-22 (USA Rugby’s CMS reported a 51-22 final) and will fight for that Mid-Atlantic berth against Saint Michael’s Sunday. The Vermont team defeated Eastern Kentucky 71-14 today, and saw multi-try performances from Marisa Wagner and Caroline Halpin. The consolation game between Bloomsburg and Eastern Kentucky will not be contested as the latter has forfeited.
Davenport, which won the fall championship before winning the 2015-16 national championship, saw All-American Danielle Ordway score five tries today. The Panthers defeated Cincinnati 57-7 in the Round of 16 and will now take on Illinois State in Sunday’s quarterfinal. Illinois State and West Virginia played the closest game on Saturday, and the pair was separated by only two points at minute 48. But then four tries in 15 minutes put Illinois State comfortably in the lead, 53-34.
The Northeast seed to the fall semifinals will come down to Vassar and Albany, the Tri-State finalists. The Brewers beat Vermont (UVM) 69-0 and saw Alicia Menard-Livingston, Nathalie Freeman, Rachel Elson and Laila Blumenthal-Rothchild score more than one try each. Mary Margaret McElduff led all point-scorers with seven conversions and a try (19 pts.). Meanwhile, Albany topped Buffalo State 46-5 to advance to the quarterfinals. Inside center Precious Cummings was influential on the scoreboard, scoring three of Albany’s eight tries. Vassar is 2-0 against Albany this fall, winning their regular season match 31-12 and the conference title match 46-10.
The West only contested one Round of 16 match today, as Marquette forfeited its match to 2015 fall runner-up Winona. The Black Katts will face Montana State Sunday, a day after the Bobcats defeated UW La Crosse 70-12. Wing Emily Dennis scored five tries for the Rocky Mountain champion, but Montana State moved that ball around. Gwynn Simeniuk, Steph Taylor, Sarah Sanchez , Alexi Bidegaray, Tiffani Eccleston, Dallas Flager and Carlene Rennick also scored tries.