Chico State distinguished itself early on in the season and did not err en route to the DI Spring College Championship title. The Wildcats put double digits between itself and UVA in Friday’s semifinals and Central Florida in Saturday’s title match.
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“The women set this goal for themselves early on. It started in August and they created this hashtag, ‘RoadtoNationals,’ as their focus. It’s been nine months they’ve been working toward this,” said Alex Triantafyllou, who co-coaches the team alongside Mary Triantafyllou.
The trip to the spring final four had to wend through the Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference, inarguably the toughest of the DI spring conferences. The Wildcats got started with a four-point win over UC Davis, the 2016 and 2017 spring champion, and grew from high point to high point. The Wildcats ended the spring final four with an undefeated record, and from the outset of 2018, topped The Rugby Breakdown’s rankings.
“Heading into the weekend we knew we had a lot of pressure on us,” Chico State backs captain Darby McFall explained the team’s mindset. “We always talk about the 2001 National Championship team and we wanted to bring that win back not only for ourselves, but for our coaches, alumni and fans. We were excited to see what the games had in store for us.”
The Wildcats lined up against Mason-Dixon champion Women’s Rugby at Virginia (UVA) in Friday’s spring semifinal.
“Not really knowing much about our opponent we just had to focus on us and play our best game,” Triantafyllou said. “Against UVA, I feel like we played a good overall team game. UCF’s pack was huge compared to us, but against UVA we were able to play a more balanced game and to do more in the forwards. I feel like we had more possession against UVA, but the girls were just fired up to play.”
The trio of fullback McFall, inside center Hannah Westfall and outside center Stefani Bergerhouse quickly distinguished itself, and throughout the two days turned half-gaps into damaging meters gained. It’s been that way all year, and while McFall and Bergerhouse graduate this year, Westfall is only a sophomore.
Stefani Bergerhouse scored five tries in the spring final. / Photo: Alex Ho (hoiho.net)
“The back line is just amazing,” Triantafyllou confirmed. “Hannah has a quick striking ability, and then Stefani and her ability with ball in hand, she fires people up. Darby as captain does a really good job of setting the tempo. She knows when to calm the team down and how to fire them up when needed.”
Chico State defeated UVA 41-20, while Central Florida beat UC Davis 31-29 in the final minutes of their semifinal. The Wildcats took in that match and made some notes for the spring championship.
“It would have looked good for our conference to have an all-PMRC final but it might have been better for us to see UCF. Davis has been so strong the last few years and they tend to play head games with our girls. With UCF, it was a blank slate, so there were no real expectations,” Triantafyllou said.
“We did change it up slightly,” the coach said of the game plan after watching UCF beat UC Davis. “We tend to like to attack in the tighter channels but we had to move to the wider channels and get the ball away from the bigger bodies. We tried to get them to run and tire them out, and we knew we could find space with the backs.”
Again, the trio of McFall, Westfall and Bergerhouse did damage early on and often, and UCF struggled to build momentum. Knights co-captain Cortney Kuehl played her typically inspiring game with ball in hand, and forwards captain Julia Phillips was unintimidated in contact, but Chico State had the finishing ability to turn a linebreak into points. Bergerhouse in particular capitalized on opportunities in space.
“Mary was saying that that was the best game she’s ever seen from her,” Triantafyllou said of the MVP-worthy senior. “She had five tries on the day, including an intercept try, and every time we felt we were on our heels or being pressured, ‘Berger’ came up with a big try to relieve some pressure.”
“All of our opponents gave us a run for our money. None of the games we played were easy,” McFall credited the opposition. “Both teams were physical at the breakdowns. They were hard runners with great ability as well. Their style of play and their caliber was one we hadn’t seen yet this season. They wanted a win as well, but I think we wanted it more.
“The thing that propelled us past them was our constant hard work,” the co-captain continued. “We didn’t want to give them an inch and that was our mentality going into the games. We didn’t know much about our opponents going in which I think was of benefit to us. It gave us the opportunity to focus on us and what we had to do in order to play our Chico rugby.”
McFall indicated that the team played its best rugby of the season, and that support, both physically and mentally, propelled Chico State to the spring title.
“There are no words to describe the feeling,” McFall enthused after the title win. “[Coaches] Mary and Alex have been building this program for so long and really pour their hearts and souls into the team. We can never repay them all they do for us, but winning a [spring] title was the closest thing so we knew we had to do it. The outpouring of support from our alumni and our Chico rugby community was immeasurable. We really couldn’t have made it this far without them. We wanted to play for the jerseys that came before us, the ones we wear now and the jerseys that will come after us.”
Chico State won the DI spring championship in convincing fashion, and now the Wildcats have the opportunity to apply themselves on the 7s scene. Starting Monday, the team will be back on the pitch preparing for the USA Rugby College 7s National Championship, the Open division, and players like McFall and Bergerhouse will be forgoing graduation ceremonies for the trip to Colorado.
“It was a tough decision,” McFall confessed. “We worked hard for our education, but we worked equally as hard in our rugby career.”
But that’s not to say the ceremonies are over for the season, and the Wildcats will look to carry that 15s momentum to Colorado in two weeks.
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