Photos: Jackie Finlan
Stanford University’s Steuber Stadium hosted the Women’s Division 2 College Spring Championship and kicked off the packed weekend with the semifinals. The victors advance to Sunday’s final, and the spring champion earns a ticket to the national final.
First up: University of California, Irvine against Kennesaw State University of Georgia.
RELATED: DI & DII College Playoff Brackets • DII Spring Championship Preview • Results: April 21-23
The first half ended with Kennesaw State leading 7-0, as Caitlane Fricia scored early in the match and Rose Walker converted. In the second half, Irvine flyhalf Margaux DeBette used her left foot to strategically kick the ball deep into Owl territory, keeping the pressure on and positioning the team for two tries from Leanne Nguyen and Elona Williams. Irvine led 10-7 as the fourth quarter approached.
The referee had penalized Irvine two times during the second half for entering rucks from the side, and the third offense at 61 minutes was the turning point in the match. Lock Emma Ripplinger, a very influential player, was ordered off the pitch for 10 minutes. Kennesaw State took advantage of Irvine being one player short, and Fricia quickly scored a try under the posts, converted by Walker for a 12-10 lead at the 64th minute.
Within another five minutes of play Kennesaw State was awarded a penalty for a “seat-belt” high tackle, and taking the tap penalty at UCI’s 10-meter line ran the ball deep into the Anteaters’ quarter, only to lose possession with a knock-on. Kennesaw seemed to have a bit more push in their scrum and won the ball against the head in the ensuing set piece, leading to another try from Fricia.
Walker’s conversion gave Kennesaw State a 19-10 lead with 10 minutes remaining, but there was still plenty of time for the Owls to add on and get greedy. Three tries followed and the Owls earned a spot in the final with a 36-10 victory.
Tulane and Grand Canyon took their places on the pitch for the next semifinal. Grand Canyon is playing their first year of rugby, and to have made it this far is truly remarkable, having beaten one of the best and talented sides on the West Coast in the quarterfinals, Fresno State. Tulane was in similar standing last year and went on to win the 2016 spring championship.
Grand Canyon would start the game by having a huge territorial advantage during the first 15 minutes, bottling up Tulane in their half, but coming away with nothing to show for it, despite some hard-charging running from outside center Julian White.
Tulane finally got possession of the ball, and in doing so it was obvious that they were going to use their forwards as battering rams to recycle ball, and would spin it out to the centers to do even more running into contact, but with the possibility of creating gaps and breaking free and gaining much ground. With nearly a quarter of the match gone, Tulane, after having penetrated into Grand Canyon’s turf near the 22, was awarded a scrum in a very favorable attacking position. Following a few phases of recycled ball, but with little ground gained, second row Clare Sullivan broke away from defenders to dot down under the sticks, the try converted by Tristan Peronard for a 7-0 lead to the Green Wave.
Grand Canyon struck back immediately, as the ball was spun wide and fullback Sara Lawson ran more than 30 meters to the touchline, only to be tackled just meters short of the goal line by great cover defense. A few Antelopes were up in support, and center Daenera Tuaua scooped up the ball and score a try that went unconverted with the wide angle for the kick. The half would end with Tulane up by two points, 7-5, but not before Tulane threatened to score again, breaking away to the try line only to be penalized for holding on.
Grand Canyon took the lead at 44 minutes after scrumhalf Shayna Tamanaha gathered the ball from a ruck just inside Tulane’s 22, eventually getting checked after a break, but offloading the ball to the right wing, Amber Perryman, who gathered the ball and scored. The kick failed and the Antelopes had the lead for the first time in the match, 10-7.
Tulane responded by keeping the pressure on Grand Canyon, playing mostly in their half of the field for the next 15 minutes. During that time Tulane inside center Madeline Brenner took a pass from a scissors move for another long run. With all this pressure Grand Canyon started to give away penalties, and with 22 minutes left in the match, Sullivan stretched out close to the line and score her second try, which Peronard converted, 14-10 to Tulane.
As the game went into its 59th minute of play Grand Canyon’s kicker muffed the restart, and Tulane took the option of a scrum at the halfway line. Tulane could not take advantage of the situation, and turned the ball over after a few phases of play, giving Grand Canyon an opportunity to drive down near Tulane’s goal line and score a try by prop Jaime Massey, 15-14 to Grand Canyon.
Tulane’s restart went deep into Grand Canyon’s half, and a knock-on in the tackle awarded Tulane a scrum near Grand Canyon’s 10-meter line. Brenner again got the ball and had space to run, only to be high-tackled, and Tulane chose the kick at goal. Peronard came through with the three points, and Tulane led 17-15.
With fewer than 10 minutes to go in the match, Grand Canyon took advantage of a scoring opportunity in Tulane’s end. No. 8 Jasmine Fifer broke a few tackles and had space ahead of her near the right touchline. She was checked near the 5-meter line, then offloaded to winger Perryman, who sped into the corner to touch down as she was pushed into touch-in-goal. The referee asked the touch judge to confirm, and then awarded the try, 20-17 to the Lopes.
At 75 minutes, Tulane would broke out of its end and drove down the pitch. Brenner again was instrumental in taking a pass and breaking tackles, eventually setting up a ruck well inside the 22, where a Grand Canyon player infringed. Tulane scrumhalf Gwen Leifer chose a quick-tap, racing into that 10-meter cushion, where she couldn’t be touched. When Grand Canyon finally converged on her for the tackle, she had nearly reached the goal line, and all she had to do was fall forward and ground the ball across the line at 78 minutes for the match winner: Tulane 22, Grand Canyon 20.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LARRY FREITAS is a Northern California Rugby Union referee and retired school teacher. He played rugby at Santa Clara University in the early and mid-70’s, as well as the San Diego Rugby Club, Santa Cruz Rebels in the 1980’s, and veteran’s rugby with the California Bald Eagles after turning 40 in the mid-90’s. “Needless to say I’d rather referee than play at this stage of my life, and now I’d like to write about it as well.
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