McFall scoring against UCSB / Photo: Jackie Finlan
Chico State locked up the top seed out of the DI Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference (PMRC) on March 3, finishing atop the West division and thus earning an automatic berth to the spring playoffs. While its PMRC counterparts readied for a seeding tournament two weeks prior to spring regionals, the Wildcats put their heads down on the training pitch. On Saturday, Chico State played its first 15s match in seven weeks, taking on UC Santa Barbara in the DI Spring College Championship Round of 16.
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“Coming into [Saturday], we were very prepared and ready, but had those jitters we hadn’t had in a while,” Chico State president and forwards captain Andrea Velazquez said. “The first couple of minutes, we needed some time to click as a team, but once we did, we were back to the team we were.”
The game had a literally cracking start. From the Chico State kickoff, No. 8 Mo Ayala went full tilt into receiver Amanda Schweitzer, also the No. 8, and both players were escorted off the pitch. Schweitzer came back with a bandaged head, while Ayala waved farewell to the crowd after a short, but memorable, playoff outing (looked like a broken nose).
Chico State ran in three tries in 10 minutes. UC Santa Barbara was dinged for two yellow cards, and the Wildcats used that advantage to build a 33-0 lead after 30 minutes. Once the SoCal team was back to full strength, Chico State added another try as inside center Hannah Westfall – who was outstanding on both sides of the ball – offloaded to outside center Stefani Bergerhouse for the first of her four tries. The Gauchos got on the board before the break, when fullback Naomi Carrillo, who displayed great speed and worked like crazy on defense, went over for five, 40-5 into the half.
Photo: Jackie Finlan
UC Santa Barbara managed one more score in the second half, when flanker Molly Yoon dotted down, but it was all Chico State in the 74-10 win. Twelve different players scored for the Wildcats, while fullback and backs captain Darby McFall handled the conversions.
“Our backs ran their lines at pace, and we had a lot of breakthroughs,” Velazquez said. “Our defense worked really well. There were a couple of times when we were pressured on our side of the 22, but we relied on our defense to poach their ball or kick it out. That pressure, it fueled us, the adrenaline, and we did really well.”
Photo: Jackie Finlan
Having won on Saturday, Chico State guaranteed its spot at the final four phase, and Sunday’s game against Lindenwood would determine whether the Wildcats played for the DI Elite national title or the DI spring title.
“It’s not as much pressure as [Saturday] of course, but we’re still looking to fight hard and play as best as we can. We’re not going to sit back and roll over,” the president said in advance of Lindenwood, which beat Stanford 154-0 on Saturday. “We have a very solid group of girls this year, and we want to see how we match up to them.”
Lindenwood, like all of the DI Elite teams, won comfortably on Sunday, and the game ended approximately 15 minutes early at 71-0. These disparities have forced USA Rugby to reconsider the joint playoffs, and collegiate director Rich Cortez confirmed that DI Elite and Spring Division I teams will separate going forward.
Of note Sunday, fullback McFall had to absorb linebreak after linebreak, and the backs captain did not let up. And when Chico State got their chances, they ran hard at Lindenwood, but the team was continuously being driven backward, and it’s tough to play like that.
McFall in the tackle / Photo: Alex Ho (hoiho.net)
Chico State has time to regroup and will be joined by PMRC league mate and back-to-back DI Spring champion UC Davis; 2017 spring final four returner Central Florida; and 2016 spring runner-up UVA in Fullerton, Calif. Spring semifinal match-ups have not been released yet, but teams will be playing their first games on Friday, May 4.
“This is definitely a special year,” Velazquez said. “We have a group of players who’ve been together 3-4 years, so we know how each other plays. There’s a lot of good athleticism, and a lot of new players who have come in with good abilities, so this is definitely a great team that can reach the championship.”
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