Photo: National Athletic Village (see more)
The Southern Conference’s DII club championship was one for the books, as the semifinals were decided by a combined five points and the final by a penalty try. In the end, it was Charlotte Rugby Club that exited the weekend with two victories and the berth to the Eastern Regional Championship.
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Charlotte ended the regular season with a 400-plus point differential in the standings and knew first-hand that a lack of competitive matches would continue to impact post-season showings.
“Historically, heading into playoffs we typically struggle understanding the pressure of a close match,” Charlotte captain Amanda Watkins explained. “Thankfully this year, however, our coach, Brad Richard, provided us with the opportunity to go to D.C. Ruggerfest a few weeks prior to playoffs, so we had a chance to practice playing defense more than we typically do in the regular season, as well as experience some higher-level competition.”
The South championship began against True South champion Knoxville, which ran a hard-nosed game around the ruck and persisted in those tight channels. Charlotte scored 17 points through 60 minutes (Sheaon Mayes T, Elizabeth Ravaioli 2T, Maddy Clark C) while Anastasia Sharp and Sierra Morris combined for seven of Knoxville’s points. But the Minx picked up momentum in the fourth quarter, and as the game entered the final 10 minutes of regulation, the Tennessee side led 19-17.
Photo: Charlotte Rugby Club Flickr (see more)
“Honestly, it took awhile that match for Charlotte to put together 10 consecutive minutes of playing our type of rugby; it felt fairly frantic for significant portions of the match,” Watkins referenced poor body positioning in contact and more than 160 meters lost in penalties. “I think at the end of the match, it felt so similar to how we lost [the 2017 South semifinal to Ft. Miami] that when we got scored on by Knoxville late in the match, everyone on the pitch that was around last year remembered exactly how it felt to go home. We finished the match with a sense of urgency that we should have maintained throughout.”
Minutes later, lock Kala Clanton scored to go ahead and Clark’s conversion closed out a 24-21 Charlotte victory. On the other side of the bracket, 2017 South champion Ft. Miami defeated Atlanta 23-21 to advance to the final.
Photo: Charlotte Rugby Club Flickr (see more)
The Florida champs took a quick lead as lock Simone Lumsden scored, and then Clanton dotted down her second try of the weekend after a yellow card gave Charlotte a player advantage.
“Ft. Miami was solid all around. They had a few key players in the backline and their eightman carried the ball a lot,” Watkins recalled the first half. “Again, our pack played phenomenally and won several defensive scrums. It took our back line 20 minutes before our hands were ‘turned on.'”
Eager from the restart, Ft. Miami scored quickly through prop Anel Echagaray and Marie Zeoli’s conversion, and it took a few minutes for Charlotte to even up through Watkins’ try and Clark’s conversion, 12-all.
Photo: Charlotte Rugby Club Flickr (see more)
“There was one specific moment that match when about six of us looked at each other simultaneously and just felt an intense calmness and confidence that we ‘had it,'” Watkins explained. “Directly prior to that [moment] was the first time that match we played several consecutive phases of ‘our’ game. … [W]e still had some scares when Ft. Miami went up on the scoreboard, but it really felt like we were the superior contenders.”
Approximately 10 minutes later, Charlotte was awarded a penalty try, which includes a conversion, and took a 19-12 lead that held for the final 20 minutes.
“We anticipated a close match, but after the jitters of the first 20 minutes, we played a much more well rounded game than we did the day before,” Watkins summarized. “The win felt good, not only because we made it to [the national] quarterfinals, but the way we were able to get into our structure and game pattern, utilizing the width of the pitch and a combination of all 15 players made the difference.”
Photo: National Athletic Village (see more)
Charlotte returns to the Eastern Regional Championship (aka national quarterfinals) after a year absence and will face Mid-Atlantic champion Harrisburg on Saturday. The victor will face the winner of the Cincinnati vs. Providence, the Midwest and Atlantic North champions, respectively. The team that wins both games this weekend advances to the national final against the western champion.
“We are so stoked to be heading back to nationals,” Watkins looked toward the weekend. “It feels incredible to set team goals and persistently attack those throughout the season, continuing to move forward. Three more matches, handled one at a time.”
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