Salisbury during its last trip to spring playoffs, 2016 / Photo: Jackie Finlan
As the DII spring college playoffs neared, attention naturally focused on those competitions that are in season during the spring. But the eastern portion of the spring bracket includes the Capital conference, which contests its regular season and championship in the fall. As teams in the South and the Capital’s finalists built toward the post-season, Salisbury awaited an opportunity to take its seat at the Spring Round of 16 table.
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During the fall, Salisbury featured in the Capital conference’s final four and dropped its semifinal to eventual champion George Washington in triple overtime.
“We knew we let one slip away … but it’s motivated all of the players,” Salisbury coach Brock Brooks remembered the semifinal loss. “It’s helped us get ready for [the spring championship]. … Losing was really the best thing that could have happened to us.”
Salisbury actually finished fourth in the conference after dropping a 40-29 decision to William & Mary in the third-place game, and knew it would take a convincing spring resume two win an at-large bid to the spring playoffs. As Salisbury lined up teams like DI James Madison, Capital champion George Washington and competitive tournaments, the team readied itself for a busy 2018.
Captains Maggie Moore (prop) and Sara Mercado (scrumhalf) lead the way from prop and scrumhalf, respectively, and they’re well supported by example-setters Danielle McCreary (flanker) and Shannon Lanham (prop), both seniors. There are only a few players remaining from the 2016 spring playoff run that took Salisbury to Davis, Calif., and then saw 13 starters graduate in May.
Fortunately, the team added a host of experienced freshmen who played with top high school teams like North Bay and West Carroll in Maryland. They’re all sophomores now, and three in particular play key roles on Salisbury’s starting line: No. 8 Kaitlyn Jones (West Carroll), flyhalf Elisa Rivera (North Bay) and outside center Ciara Harbaugh (North Bay). Sandwiched in between them is pacey Presley Chaney, who’s made a nice transition from flanker to inside center and completes the back line.
The two most important games occurred on Feb. 10 against James Madison, the team’s first match of the season, and April 7 against George Washington, the reigning conference champ. After defeating the DI Mason-Dixon team, Salisbury bested George Washington 38-5.
Meanwhile, the DII Carolinas conference believed that it had two spots in the eastern bracket of the DII spring championship Round of 16, and runner-up College of Charleston booked hotels and sorted logistics to Greenville, N.C., for the April 21-22 tournament. But on April 5, CoC was informed that it must contest a play-in match against at-large Salisbury on April 14. Brooks confirmed that Salisbury was given a week’s notice about the match as well.
“We had a lot of confidence and also – not really anger, but a sense of purpose,” Brooks said heading into the play-in game. “Take the win, and take our spot to [the spring championship] – that was our mentality.”
Both teams showcased able kickers who were able to move play from one end of the pitch to the other, but Salisbury used prior knowledge regarding College of Charleston’s play to build some strategy.
“I knew, having played them before, that they were a forward-oriented team, so we focused on that end, and shut that down as soon as possible to open up back play,” Brooks said. “Where we prevailed was inside play from our centers, and also eightman and flankers, to control the game and pace.”
Salisbury won 31-10, a victory that afforded a spot at Saturday’s Spring Round of 16, and will now face George Washington for the third time this year. On the other side of the pool, Carolinas champion UNC Charlotte will play Capital runner-up Catholic University. The team that ends the weekend 2-0 will travel to Fullerton, Calif., on May 4-5 for the USA Rugby DII College Spring Championship semifinals and final. The competition will join the DI Elite National Championship and DI College Spring Championship in SoCal.
“We’re a young team and just want to see how it goes,” Brooks looked ahead. “We’re looking to build. We’ll have the same team for the next 3-4 years, so we’ll only get better.”
Salisbury is competing at East Carolina University this weekend, and three other sites – Life University, BYU and Stanford – host the addtional DI Elite/DI Spring and DII Spring playoffs.
Click here for more information on the bracket, which actually begins with 14 teams rather than 16. Also remember that the DII Spring Championship is the counterpart to the DII Fall Championship, which named Winona State its victor in early December. The two will not meet for a national final.
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