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Photo courtesy Albany Women’s Rugby (see more)
Below is a review of the USA Rugby Division I and Division II college games that occurred in the northeast region last weekend. Varsity (NIRA) and small school (NSCRO) leagues, which follow non-USA Rugby post-seasons, also operate in the northeast and are covered separately. (Teams’ records reflect league games only)
RELATED: DII Northern Lights Ready for Playoffs • NIRA Update + Scorers Tally • Women’s Rugby Scores: Oct. 6-8
DIVISION I
NORTHEASTERN 36-27 URI
The Lady Maddogs (2-0) fought for its undefeated record, defeating URI (1-2) 36-27. Power runs from the Northeastern forwards opened up space for the backs, and fullback Sarah Levy was particularly effective in scoring four tries. Alessia Pellegrini and Olivia Giorlandino also scored. Giorlandino and Caroline Angele added conversions. Northeastern head coach Keith Cattanach also credited the younger players for stepping up their game.
URI’s Madi Conley logged three tries, while Liz Crossley and Shayda Gounili also scored. Kellie Larsen added the extras.
UCONN 46-7 BOSTON
UCONN earned its third league win of the season with an eight-try performance over Boston University (1-2). Brandice Neal and Rachel Gomes scored two tries apiece, while Christa Amoia, Brianna Kinnie, Shayna Kennedy and Anna Mechler also dotted down. Allison Gorman added three conversions. Samantha Perez-Menendez scored Boston’s try, and Julia Yoder kicked the conversion.
FRIENDLIES
UMASS 31-22 ST. MICHAEL’S
Julia Graf led UMASS (0-2) with three tries in its friendly win over DII St. Michael’s College, which competes in the top tier of Rugby Northeast. Sam Dalton also scored a try and Katarina Fetros kicked two conversions. The third conversion accompanied the penalty try.
BOSTON COLLEGE 61-12 ROGER WILLIAMS
Monica Thorne led Boston College (1-0) with six tries, while Jade McGrath, Olivia Muse, Madeline Reed, Paige Cooper and Emerson Boone also scored against the DII Rugby Northeast team. Rebecca Bianchi added three conversions.
Photo courtesy St. Michael’s College Women’s Rugby
DIVISION II
UPSTATE NEW YORK
Two games occurred in the seven-team division: Syracuse (2-3) defeated Brockport (0-5) 67-5, and Cortland (5-0) bettered Ithaca College (1-4) 71-19.
Cortland is an interesting case, as it was promoted back into Division II after a couple of successful seasons in NSCRO.
“It’s been nice back in DII because teams have second sides and we can keep everyone running,” Cortland coach Matt Madden said. “In NSCRO, since they’re small schools, they have small rosters, sometimes 17 players. We don’t run into those issues [in DII]. It’s really nice to show up and not only know that you have a match but that you’ll have to put your A-side out there to play. The competition on average is better.”
Colgate also returned to DII from NSCRO, but a massive graduating class garnered some consideration, and therefore Colgate will follow an NSCRO post-season.
The game for which we’re waiting is Buffalo State (4-0) vs. Cortland on Oct. 21, which could very well be a preview of the conference championship on Nov. 4.
NEW ENGLAND SMALL COLLEGE
Colby spent the previous two weekends scoring 49 points each: a 49-5 friendly win against Plymouth State and 49-29 conference win over Middlebury. Clare Stephens scored three tries against Middlebury. Captains Sierra Fuller and Laura Wu lead a team where 22 of 32 players are upperclassmen. That experience will come in handy this weekend, when Colby plays varsity Bowdoin College.
NEW ENGLAND WIDE
League leader Coast Guard (3-0) had a bye this weekend, but the Bears are heavily favored to take the top seed out of the conference. Post-season reps to USA Rugby fall playoffs will be named on season-end standings, so the race is on for second place as well. So far, the University of Hartford (3-1) is shaping up to be that team and spent last weekend shutting out Tufts (0-4) 68-0. New Hampshire (2-1) and New Haven (0-3) played a thriller, with the former triumphing 26-24. Springfield (2-1) forfeited to UVM (2-2).
Although there’s no league championship game, there are bowl games as well as promotion/relegation matches between Tiers 1 and 2 (read more).
RUGBY NORTHEAST
It was a crossover/friendly weekend in the Rugby Northeast. Two teams – St. Michael’s (0-2) and Roger Williams (0-1) – lost to DI Northeast teams (see Division I review). Stonehill (1-0) defeated NESC’s Middlebury 45-19, while NSCRO’s Endicott defeated Tier 2 Merrimack 106-7.
Within the conference, Tier 2 Southern Connecticut (2-0) drew attention as it defeated Tier 1 Bryant (2-0) 5-0. UMASS Lowell logged a Tier 2 win over Holy Cross, 28-0.
TRI-STATE
In a match-up that we’re likely to see again this fall, Vassar (5-0) turned a 15-12 halftime lead into a 43-17 win over Albany (4-1). Read more. Abby Alexander, Kate Sworden and Michelle Urrutia scored two tries apiece, Jennie To one, while Makena Emery kicked four conversions.
Also in the North Division, Marist (3-2) defeated the South’s Binghamton 54-17.
In the South, Lili Hinojos Madrid scored four tries in Hofstra’s 49-20 win over Stony Brook (0-5), and Fairfield (3-2) defeated New Paltz (2-3) 36-19.
Remember that the North division is the conference’s top competition, South the second tier, and Central is NSCRO. The North and South will filter into DII playoffs, which begin this weekend. Check out the current standings.