Photos: Jackie Finlan
UC Davis is the two-time reigning DI College Spring Champion, but the 2018 season did not start auspiciously. A rash of injuries challenged the Aggies, but in the end, did not derail the team’s post-season goals. Now, the NorCal team has the opportunity to pursue a third-straight title.
RELATED: A Different Davis Plays On • 2018 Women’s Rugby Calendar • Support TRB: Donate Today!
“It’s been a rough year. It’s a little difficult to create continuity when different people are playing in every game. For the last 2-3 years, we didn’t have to worry about that,” UC Davis coach Gary Gordon said. “It had a huge effect on us, not having the same starting 15, but it also forced us to grow. Some players stepped up and took on roles that were vacated and did an amazing job.”
Gordon acknowledged outside center Bri August and flanker-turned-inside center Phoebe Pummarachai. They replaced the well known center duo of Sydnee Watanabe and Erica Hipp. Freshman Samantha Kerrigan stepped into flyhalf when captain Becca Lehman was sidelined with injury and stood up the pressures of playoff rugby. In fact both captains – Becca Graff leads the forwards – were injured until the final game of the regular season.
“Going into [the final league game against] Humboldt, the team was kind of shocked that it had to win this game or the season was over,” Gordon said of the 2-5 record at the time. “It was a big motivating factor for the seniors – we have 16 on the team – and getting the captains back was a big part of getting continuity. The team felt like it was getting its mojo back and the confidence level went up.”
Davis won that game and advanced to the Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference seeding tournament, where it defeated Washington State and Stanford to earn the conference’s second seed to spring playoffs.
“The team felt that people were overlooking them, so they had a chip on their shoulder and wanted to prove their mustard,” Gordon said. “And beating Stanford at Stanford – that doesn’t happen very often. That’s something the seniors dream about. Emotionally it was probably as important as winning the championship last year.”
With the confidence levels continuing to rise and the lineup settling into its rhythm, UC Davis readied for Grand Canyon University in the Spring Round of 16 in Provo, Utah.
“We were outsized for sure. The girls had to dig deep and it was a gut-check to have to make all those tackles against quite bigger opposition,” Gordon said. “They had speed, athleticism, size, and we were definitely concerned.”
Gordon credited a big push from the forwards during the first 25 minutes, an effort that kept the Lopes pinned in their half. Meanwhile fullback Prai Harris, No. 8 Cecilia Flores (2), prop Brenda Erickson, August and wing Kat Thompson all scored, while Lehman’s conversions produced a 36-0 lead.
Grand Canyon scored on either side of the break through Julian White and Natasha Opoku, and earned a third try near the turn of the fourth quarter. But Davis controlled the match and sent another four tries across for the 58-17 win. That set up a spring quarterfinal against BYU, which had defeated Arizona State 91-0 in round one.
“Before we even went [to Utah] we talked about the format,” Gordon explained the team’s head space in advance of playing a DI Elite team. “It’s somewhat disappointing because USA Rugby made the second game [quarterfinal] not mean anything, so it’s hard to motivate individuals when in their mind they’ve already progressed [to the next phase of playoffs].”
Furthermore, Davis was carrying injuries, and didn’t want to risk further tenderizing players when a trip to the spring championship was already guaranteed. The reserves got a good run-out and banked important experience against a high-level opponent. BYU won 92-0.
Gordon indicated that the result didn’t negatively impact the players – they understood the situation – and the coach endorsed playing DI Elite teams under different circumstances. The Aggies, for example, have hosted both Lindenwood and BYU in pre-season friendlies, and those games were very influential in readying Davis for playoff runs.
Certainly this playoff run has differed from the previous two, but Davis is no less motivated to bring home a trophy and give its seniors a memorable send-off. The Aggies will face Central Florida on Friday, May 4, in a rematch of last year’s spring semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, Pacific Mountain mate Chico State will face UVA.
“They’re making their third trip in three years, and that’s special,” Gordon said. “We talk about it all the time, that teams don’t get the chance to go for back-to-back-to-back titles very often. And they understand what it could mean for the program if we accomplish this.”
Tune into The Rugby Channel for all of the non-consolation games.
UCDavis #2018SpringPlayoffs