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Photo courtesy Winona State Women’s Rugby
The DI Midwest college conference is still contesting league games, but the automatic berth to the fall playoffs has already been awarded. As Minnesota and Northern Illinois (NIU) entered last weekend’s match against each other, they had already distinguished themselves from the rest of the field in undefeated records, margins of victory and lack of forfeits.
On Saturday, Minnesota turned in a comprehensive performance and defeated Northern Illinois 36-5 to repeat as league champion. NIU is also looking to extend its fall beyond the regular season.
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“NIU challenged us in defense and in the rucks. They came up fast and forced us to move the ball quickly,” Minnesota president Stephanie Morande reviewed the game. “I think we were able to defeat NIU by responding back with strong defense and support, enabling us to get the ball back time and time again.
“It was also evident that the rainy weather affected play for both teams,” she continued. “In terms of possession, it became a matter of who had better ball handling and who was quicker to dive for the ball when it was fumbled.”
Northern Illinois coach Thomas Petit explained that while his team played with passion, the players struggled with decision-making.
“We were on our heels while they were on the gain line all game,” Petit said. “We needed to figure out a way to attack Minnesota’s aggressive defense – kicking to spots behind them – but we never did it. It was frustrating, but at the same time, we played with such heart.”
That heart, however, was not funneled into a cohesive team game.
“Everybody was focused on giving their best effort – and they did – that we weren’t playing 2-3 plays ahead,” Petit continued. “‘I got the ball and I’m going to run hard and get what I can get,’ but then the presentation of the ball made for a wide gate and the rucks became more contestable. We kept finding ourselves in those battles and that limits the time of possession, which is what it all comes down to.”
Minnesota is good about getting its players involved at the next level, and four Gophers (two current, two recently graduated) traveled with the Midwest U24 Thunderbirds to Ireland during the Women’s Rugby World Cup. Amber Brevig and Averie Mitchell-Brown reintegrated that experience into their home team, and on Saturday, the latter was particularly influential.
“As soon as you saw her run, you knew you had to put players on her,” said Petit, who committed his flankers and No. 9 to cover scrumhalf Mitchell-Brown. “She scored once or twice but she’s probably used to scoring more.
Photo: Jackie Finlan
“We have a wing [Nia Pappas] who, if she takes the corner, then she’s gone,” the coach added. “I almost turned around when she beat her wing and broke around the outside – I thought it was done – but [Mitchell-Brown] tracked her down. … It was hard. We were trying to get the ball wide to our outside center and wings – where our strengths are – but we did it in a static way, just not moving forward.”
NIU had also planned to use the Minnesota game as a gauge. If it was a good contest, then the team would apply for an at-large berth to the fall playoffs. Petit believes his team still has more to give and is looking to take advantage of what could be a special year.
“We have a lot of seniors, which is good for this year but bad for next year,” Petit said. “Everyone just got a little caught up in winning this specific game, but I was viewing it from a growth perspective. An 0-5 team in the middle of Illinois gets no recognition, but a 5-0 team that wins a division grabs attention, and that helps the recruitment process.”
NIU was scheduled to play Iowa this weekend, and when it heads back to the training pitch, it’ll focus on building confidence in the strategies and game plans it’s been developing this season. Minnesota has another two league games against UW Milwaukee and Iowa State that will fill up the rest of October.
“Our goal this year is to take our team further than we went last year, which has been our goal every year,” Morande indicated. “Last year we were one game away from making it to [the fall championship]; the year before we were two. Hopefully this year will be the year that we manage to make an appearance at [the fall championship].”
The brackets for the fall collegiate championships have not been released. The dates and sites, however, for the seasonal championship are as follows:
Nov. 11-12: DI fall play-ins
Nov. 18-19: DI fall QFs/SFs
U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
Illinois State, Normal, Ill.
Dec. 2-3: DI fall championship
Furman University
Greenville, S.C.
Minnesota #NorthernIllinois