UCF’s Cortney Kuehl /// Photo: Meredith Nelson, MEAN Photography
The Women’s DI College Spring Championship will play out its final two rounds on Friday-Saturday, May 5-6 in Marietta, Ga. Stanford and Notre Dame College, and UC Davis and Central Florida will contest semifinals Friday, and the DI Elite semifinals will follow the same day. Two national titles (DI Elite and Division II) and the DI spring title will be awarded Saturday.
RELATED: DI College Spring Ranking • DI Elite/Spring College Brackets • Women’s Rugby Results: April 29-30
The University of Central Florida and UC Davis will face each other at 12 p.m. Eastern. Both teams dominated their respective leagues but had different Spring Round of 16/8 experiences two weekends ago.
UC Davis is the reigning DI spring champion and came into this season looking for the next challenge. When the new DI Elite/DI Spring combination playoffs were introduced, Davis got that opportunity to test itself against the next level of play without sacrificing a spring final four berth. The Aggies defeated Arizona State 96-0 in the Spring Round of 16 and then took on 2016 DI Elite runner-up BYU in the spring quarterfinals.
“I was worried that the urgency wouldn’t be there,” UC Davis coach Gary Gordon said. “If we lost Sunday [in the spring quarterfinals], then we’d still get to play again. There isn’t as much on the line. Would they be as motivated as they could be without that [single-elimination threat] hanging over their head?”
Gordon’s concerns were assuaged.
“When we were down by 18, they could have rolled over and said, ‘Whatever,’” Gordon said of BYU’s 25-7 halftime lead. “But they brought the score to within a converted try. It was close like that for a while. The wheels fell off and we gave up three tries in 10 minutes, but if we don’t leak a couple of tries in the first half, it could have been somewhat different.”
Gordon credited BYU’s depth of bench and ability to take advantage of territory in the Utah team’s 44-19 victory. Davis was tested physically – which will come in handy against UCF.
“The girls, they weren’t disappointed at all. They fought the whole game, and BYU is just really good,” Gordon said. “They really feel like they can compete, and looking at the other [Spring Round of 16/8] score lines, ours was the only real competitive game out of all the other teams playing Elite teams. They took a bit of confidence in that. BYU is good, but we’re pretty damn good, too.”
On game day, watch for captains Erin Martin, a dynamic breakaway, and Sydnee Watanabe, a creative inside center, to lead the way.
UCF received some validation, too. After losing in the first round last year, UCF eliminated 2016 finalist UVA in this year’s Spring Round of 16, 48-20. The game was close at the half, 17-15, and then the Florida side hit a second gear.
“We’re pretty well known as a second-half team; we’ve been trying to work on that forever,” said UCF co-captain Sara Karuli. “We hold our own in the first half, but it just takes us some time to get our footing and feel the other team out.”
Against UVA, and traditionally, UCF’s size and mobility were influential in changing momentum. Up front, there are power players like Karuli and co-captain Julia Phillips, both props. In the backs, there’s the elusive Jessica Warner, who’s played with the USA Falcons this year, and outside center Cortney Kuehl, who is the field captain when Karuli and Phillips are off the pitch.
There is also ample experience on the roster. Eight players will be missing their graduations this weekend in lieu of the spring championship, and there are more still who are graduating over the summer or fall. Karuli, Jackie Edge, Rachel Mederos, Abby Hudak, April Garrett, Giovanna Medell are among the players competing in their final season with UCF.
Having run out the nerves against UVA, Central Florida entered the spring quarterfinal against Life University with a calm mindset.
“We were told from the get-go that day two didn’t matter; that it was smooth sailing if we won the first day,” Karuli said. “So the second day we went out to have fun. We just played really hard and didn’t get stressed about it. That day was for us.”
The Running Eagles won 78-5, and Karuli classified the experience as humbling. Losing isn’t something UCF does often, but the game pointed out some areas of weaknesses, and the Orlando team has been working on them ever since.
“There were a few people who had really good weekends … but we all noticed that Cortney Kuehl had one of her best games,” Karuli said of the lone try-scorer against Life. “She just did not give up that entire weekend.”
UCF is taking that attitude into the next few days, especially as the seniors forgo commencement.
“If we’re missing graduation, then we’re coming to win it all,” Karuli concluded.
Stay tuned for the Stanford vs. Notre Dame College preview. Below is the full schedule of women’s events in Marietta, Ga. (all viewable on The Rugby Channel):
FRIDAY, MAY 5 (Eastern Time)
10 a.m. DI Spring SF: Notre Dame College v Stanford
12 p.m. DI Spring SF: UC Davis v Central Florida
2 p.m. DI Elite SF: BYU v Penn State
4 p.m. DI Elite SF: Life v Lindenwood
SATURDAY, MAY 6
1:30 p.m. DII National Championship: Davenport v Kennesaw St.
3:30 p.m. DI Spring Championship
5:30 p.m. DI Elite Championship
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