Photo courtesy Norwich Athletics
The National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) opened its third season last Friday. Below is a recap of all the varsity teams’ league, cross-tier and friendly games.
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QUINNIPIAC 42-22 ARMY
For the second consecutive year, Quinnipiac (1-0) and Army (0-1) opened up their league seasons against each other. The Bobcats prefaced Friday’s match with a pre-season tour to Canada, where the Bobcats defeated the University of Ottawa and McGill University by a combined 114-10.
Ilona Maher and Mikah Maples scored three tries apiece in Quinnipiac’s 42-22 win at home. Army’s Bayleigh Gable led the Black Knights with 17 points and scored two tries in the final 10 minutes. Army will host American International College on Sept. 8, while Quinnipiac will travel to Dartmouth on Sept. 9.
Quinnipiac 42
Tries: Maher 3, Maples 3, Haight, Schussler
Cons: Saunders
Army 22
Tries: Botterini, Gable 2
Cons: Gable 2
Pens: Gable
NORWICH 58-5 NEW ENGLAND
Norwich (1-0) scored 10 tries in its season opener against the University of New England (0-1) in Northfield, Vt. Seven Cadets scored tries, with Caitlin Heale, Sheila Decker and Denisse Zambon scoring two apiece. Decker hit four conversions to lead all point-scorers with 18 points. Norwich takes this weekend off before heading to Quinnipiac on Sept. 16. UNE will play Army’s B side on Friday.
Norwich 58
Tries: Heale 2, Decker 2, Zambon 2, Kelly, Meakin, Tonumapai’a, Bissonnette
Cons: Decker 4
New England 5
Tries: Drumheller
SACRED HEART 84-10 CASTLETON
Sacred Heart (1-0) ran out to a 44-5 halftime lead before downing Castleton (0-1) 84-10 on Sept. 1. The Pioneers got a big day out of their freshmen, who accounted for nine of 14 tries. First-year Kaitlin Lagase led everyone with four tries, while fellow freshman Isabel Cuddy dotted down three times. Sophomore Nicole Lopes accounted for two tries, and sophomore Kaylee Hale kicked seven conversions.
Sacred Heart will play Molloy College (1-0) at home on Sept. 9, while Castleton will look for its first win against league newcomer LIU Post (0-1) in New York.
Sacred Heart 84
Tries: Lagase 4, Cuddy 3, Woods, De Poortere, Bauer, Buckey, Rinaldi, Lopes 2
Cons: Hale 7
Castleton 10
Tries: Arnone, LaPlant
MOLLOY 32-0 LIU POST
Molloy College (1-0) defeated NIRA newcomer LIU Post (0-1) 32-0. Junior Siobhan Coady scored four tries and kicked one conversion to lead her team with 22 points. Freshman Olivia Sturiano scored a try in each half to aid in the shutout victory.
Molloy will face Sacred Heart (1-0), which scored 84 points in its season-opener, on Saturday, while LIU Post (0-1) will look for its program’s first-ever win against Castleton (0-1) Sunday.
Molloy 32
Tries: Coady 4, Sturiano 2
Cons: Coady
LIU Post 0
NOTRE DAME COLLEGE 69-5 MOUNT ST. MARY’S
Both teams are playing in their first official season with NIRA, and Notre Dame College (1-0) opened with a 64-point win over first-year varsity program Mount St. Mary’s (0-1). Danielle Walko-Siua led all Falcons with 15 points and joined Yassmine Valentine and Alex Strasser as multi-try scorers. Alyssa Reidel added nine points on three conversions and a penalty. McMinn Tribe graduate Jordan Butcher scored Mount St. Mary’s first-ever varsity try.
Notre Dame College will retake the pitch against USA Rugby DI Davenport University, while Mount St. Mary’s faces USA Rugby DII Kutztown University.
Notre Dame College 69
Tries: Tomasulo, Fox, Walko-Siua 3, Rudman, Valentine 2, Strasser 2, Velez, Carroll
Cons: Reidel (3)
Pens: Reidel
Mount St. Mary’s 5
Tries: Butcher
FRIENDLIES
QUEENS UNIV 94-0 ELON
Queens University of Charlotte will join NIRA in fall 2018, but we’ll track them during the team’s first-ever varsity season. The Royals defeated Elon, a USA Rugby DII team in North Carolina, 94-0 on Saturday. Maddy D’Oliveira, Bridget Mielke, Asiah Peterson, McKayla Tatum, Abby Tobias and Ella Brucker scored multiple tries, while Tori Wilson, Abby Berberich and Hannah Struzyk also scored. Queens University will resume against USA Rugby DII power University of South Carolina on Saturday.
Queens University 94
Tries: D’Oliveira 3, Mielke 2, Peterson 2, Tatum 2, Tobias 2, Brucker 2, Wilson, Berberich, Struzyk
Cons: Mielke 6, Struzyk
DARTMOUTH played Penn State in a pre-season scrimmage and won 46-17 in State College, Pa. • BROWN played the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to a 7-5 win, with Pleasanton Cavaliers alumni Marion Sellier and Olivia Duba accounting for the try and conversion, respectively. Sellier also blocked the Coast Guard’s conversion kick. The Bears then defeated USA Rugby DII Bryant College 42-5 with 13 players and saw Sellier, Louise Leitao and Karina Wang among the try-scorers. Duba kicked the extras. • CENTRAL WASHINGTON went 1-1 in its pre-season Canadian double-header, defeating Alberta 34-31 and losing 33-14 to Lethbridge. Sophomore Sui A’au led all scorers with four tries on the weekend, while freshman Mikayla Roberts dotted down two tries in her first season. CWU Assistant Athletic Director Gary Hyatt is overseeing the team while the head coach search continues.