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Photo courtesy Queens University of Charlotte Athletics
Notre Dame College has played five games this fall, but this week’s east-bound trip will orient the Falcons within the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA). At present, the Euclid, Ohio, team is ranked eighth in the varsity league and will play #7 American International College and #6 Norwich on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
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Notre Dame College is 2-3 overall, with wins coming against new NIRA member Mount St. Mary’s and future NIRA member Queens University of Charlotte. The losses, though, have been very useful. Recently promoted Davenport University broke up the Falcons’ two blowout wins, and then DI Elite Life University and Penn State provided insight into the squad itself.
“Life handled us well. They are impressive,” Notre Dame College Luke Markovich reflected on the 52-7 loss. “But we went back and looked at every mistake that led to the points they scored against us, and tried to limit those mistakes against Penn State [the following week].”
Rudman vs. Davenport / Photo courtesy Notre Dame College Athletics
The Life match was a wake-up call for many players, and they were eager to get back to work and improve. Markovich relies on captain Emilia Ferrara to drive the competitive tone for the team, and praised the inside back’s ability to lead by example. In the forwards, Karmin Macedo and Kayla Rudman are the voices.
“We have more athletes than super knowledgeable rugby players, but that’s starting to even out now,” Markovich surveyed the roster, which added five new members for fall 2017. “For the most part, they understand the fundamentals and will grow from there. They’re asking questions about the finer points of the system, and the seniors can answer those questions and bring everyone along.”
Macedo / Photo: KJ Feury
Six days after Life, Notre Dame College was in State College, Pa., taking on reigning DI Elite national champion Penn State. Markovich noted an uptick in his team’s aggression, and the Falcons only trailed 10-0 after 40 minutes.
“Around halftime, they realized they could play with Penn State. That’s what a lot of the season has been about – realizing that they can compete with other teams,” Markovich said. “They played physically and didn’t sit back on the Penn State attack – they met them. There was belief in their eyes.”
Danielle Walko-Siua scored a 50-meter try in the second half, before Penn State added a third score, 15-5. Even then, Notre Dame College played with optimism and pushed to the final whistle.
Ferrara, Walko-Siua / Photo: KJ Feury
“We lost by 10 points. Last season, we lost by [54],” Markovich recalled the 2017 USA Rugby Division I quarterfinal defeat. “Obviously we were looking to win, but this is the most positive loss we can have. This is a huge victory for them morally. Everything will be positive going forward.”
And there is plenty of ground to cover. Markovich and team are really looking forward to the AIC and Norwich games this week to better understand where they fit into NIRA. In advance of the varsity post-season, the Falcons will play DI Mason Dixon’s Pittsburgh and a third DI Elite program in Lindenwood, which just defeated Army and AIC by a combined 166-31.
Photo courtesy Notre Dame College Athletics
“We wanted the best preparation for the NIRA championships in November and so we’re playing the best teams in the country. We have high expectations,” Markovich said.
Should Notre Dame College finish in the top eight at the end of the regular season, then it will advance to its first varsity post-season. Remember that the program started the fall 2016 season as a NIRA member, but then player eligibility issues ruled out the team’s participation. Notre Dame College then aligned with USA Rugby’s Division I and advanced to the spring championship as an at-large team.