Raleigh in its first 2017 league game v Philly /// Photos courtesy Raleigh Rugby Club
The 37th annual D.C. Ruggerfest brought more than 40 girls’ and women’s teams to Rosecroft Raceway last weekend, and Raleigh emerged the Premier division champion. The bracket included Women’s Premier League and DI club teams and top collegiate sides, and across the Venom’s two squads (the other in the club division), the North Carolina club went 6-1 in Maryland.
In the New Year, Raleigh played a good round of friendlies, getting its best test against Life University in Georgia. The Venom restarted league play on March 25 and beat Philadelphia 44-7 to remain undefeated in the DI Mid-Atlantic.
Saturday began with a 51-0 win over the Ohio Elite U24, an all-star squad that is building toward the Midwest LAU U24 Championship. Ohio is the current Midwest U24 champion (read more) and is still building toward a cohesive system.
The tournament hosts were next. The D.C. Furies traveled to Raleigh two weeks ago for a friendly, which the Venom won 56-0.
“They made several changes, including moving two fantastic players from the forwards to the backs: Maggie Olney to [flyhalf] and Michelle VanderPloeg to [inside center],” Raleigh captain Chelsea Garber noted. “Maggie’s kicking and Ploeg’s tackling made it more difficult for our Venom backs to find space on the outside. We had more of a grinding game in the pack and narrowly won 7-0.”
The Venom advanced to the semifinals along with Penn State A, which had dropped a 12-5 game to New York and beat Beantown 19-17; Furies, which went 1-1 after a 7-0 win over Life; and New York, which also beat Houston 27-0 to go 2-0 on Saturday. Raleigh lined up against reigning DI Elite national champion Penn State Sunday morning.
“This was really the game I wanted going into Ruggerfest because to me, Penn State is still a gold standard for quality women’s rugby,” the Brown University alumna wrote. “It was a really fun match to play because both teams respected each other and just played really hard and smart.”
Garber hit a penalty and then a score out wide gave Raleigh an 8-0 lead at half.
“In the second half, we were running uphill in the mud,” Garber noted. “Penn State was able to take advantage of their conditions and Gabby Cantorna’s foot to maintain good field position. They scored one after a series of Venom penalties helped them march down the field to take the score to 8-5.”
Raleigh then took two yellow cards and had to make some unusual adjustments for its missing prop and scrumhalf.
Raleigh front row against Life University in March
“The last series of the game, Penn State was five meters out from the try line and Venom’s spectacular goal line defense won the game for us,” the flyhalf explained. “We pride ourselves on defense, and we rely on building that wall and trusting each other to make tackles.”
Meanwhile, the Furies beat New York 17-12 in the other semifinal for a rematch with Raleigh in the trophy round. Raleigh took a 7-0 halftime lead, and then Garber made good use of the wind and slope to control territory in the second stanza. The Venom won Ruggerfest with a 26-0 final.
Raleigh ended the weekend outscoring opponents 92-5, giving the team good momentum into this weekend’s final Gold Cup round against Chicago North Shore and Detroit (which replaces the Minnesota Valkyries). It was also a good tournament to develop depth, and Raleigh was one of several teams to place a second team in the Club division, which the Old Girls ended up winning 24-21 over Penn State’s B team.
In the high school ranks, West End won its third-straight tournament title this spring, 30-5 over Indiana’s Warsaw in the final. George Washington beat Salisbury 38-10 in the college final. See below for full results:
HIGH SCHOOL
Warsaw 17-14 West Carroll
Warsaw 14-5 Valkyries
West End 12-10 Morris
West End 15-5 North Bay A
MD Exiles 40-0 North Bay B
MD Exiles 26-7 Fort Hunt
Fort Hunt 5-0 North Bay B
Morris 19-13 North Bay A
Valkyries 28-5 West Carroll
Cons: Fort Hunt 28-0 North Bay B
Cons: North Bay A 11-7 Morris
SF: Warsaw 14-7 Valkyries
SF: West End 31-0 Exiles
Final: West End 30-5 Warsaw
COLLEGE
UVA 26-0 William & Mary
UVA 29-0 Catholic
George Washington 24-0 Johns Hopkins
George Washington 60-10 George Mason
Salisbury 20-5 Miami University
Salisbury 5-0 American
Georgetown 0-0 UMBC
Georgetown 5-0 Maryland
American 24-0 Miami
Catholic 25-0 William & Mary
Johns Hopkins 22-10 George Mason
Cons: Willam & Mary 31-5 George Mason
Cons: Miami Univ 6-0 Hopkins
Cons: American 31-5 Maryland
SF: George Washington 22-10 Salisbury
SF: UVA 12-0 Georgetown
(UVA forfeit)
Final: George Washington 38-10 Salisbury
CLUB
MD Stingers 12-12 Misfits
MD Stingers 34-0 Frederick
Old Girls 15-0 Brooklyn
Old Girls 30-0 White Horse
Penn State B 10-6 Raleigh B
Penn State B 50-0 James River
Norfolk 0-0 Furies B
Norfolk 42-5 Brockport
Furies B 69-0 Brockport
Misfts 43-5 Frederick
Raleigh B 38-0 James River
White Horse 5-5 Brooklyn
Cons: James River 32-5 Brockport
Cons: White Horse 54-0 Frederick
Cons: Raleigh B 36-14 Brooklyn
Cons: Norfolk 15-5 MD Stingers
SF: Olde Girls 20-0 Misfits
SF: Penn State B 24-5 Furies B
Final: Old Girls 24-21 Penn State B
PREMIER
New York 12-5 Penn State A
New York 27-0 Houston
Raleigh 51-0 Ohio U24
Raleigh 7-0 DC Furies
Beantown 17-0 Houston
DC Furies 7-0 Life
Life 45-0 Ohio U24
Penn State A 19-17 Beantown
Cons: Life 30-7 Beantown
SF: Raleigh A 8-5 Penn State A
SF: Furies A 17-12 New York
Final: Raleigh A 26-0 Furies A