After Eastern Washington turned down its at-large berth, a scramble to fill that spot at the DII College Spring Round of 16, which was already starting with 14 teams. The West Coast and Gold Coast conferences were charged with supplying three teams each, and Santa Clara eventually put its hand up for the West Coast. But come game time, Santa Clara didn’t have the numbers for a 15s game and played Claremont in 10s.
RELATED: DI Elite/DI Spring & DII Spring Brackets • Women’s Rugby Scores: April 20-22 • Support TRB: Become a Patron
Despite the obvious shock, everyone involved took a positive take on the turn of events.
“You make the best of it,” Claremont head coach Evan Wollen said. “It’s better than showing up this morning ready to go and then seeing no one across from you. You keep it positive and get ready for tomorrow.”
game itself was a fun, back-and-forth match, with both sides enjoying the lead. Claremont ended up winning 31-25 and advances to Sunday’s quarterfinal against the winner of the UN Reno vs. Long Beach State.
“Tens is fun to play. I wish 10s was in the Olympics instead of 7s because you could have at least 1-2 beefy people out there,” Wollen said. “It was really great for my B side to come out. This is a beautiful field, a beautiful stadium. There’s people in the crowd, you have goal posts and you have touch judges. It’s really beneficial for my youngsters to come out and do that.”
Back-up scrumhalf Molly Ferguson drew attention. She has pull-away speed and attacked nicely around the breakdown. Wollen called the first-year rugby player a “spitfire” on defense as well.
“Yeah, you would like momentum [heading into Sunday], but it’s also nice to be rested and watch the two teams you might play tomorrow,” Wollen added.
Claremont will face the winner of UN Reno vs. Long Beach State, and Sunday’s victor will advance to the DII Spring Final Four in Fullerton, Calif., which is 35 minutes away from the Foxes. Claremont had originally planned to compete at the NSCRO 7s National Championship next weekend, April 28-29 in Pittsburgh, Pa., but recently declined the berth.
“That was a difficult decision to turn down that bid, but it was probably for the best because this can get exhausting,” Wollen said. “We left [for San Francisco] Thursday, we’ll get home Sunday night, finals are two weeks away.
“Academics come first, not just because it’s a club sport but because of the schools we’re at,” the coach concluded. “It’s just not a great time.”
Occidental is heading east in Claremont’s stead, while Claremont focuses on winning Sunday for the hometown spring championship.
#2018SpringPlayoffs