Stanford No. 8 Lia Ferguson / Photos: Jackie Finlan
With Chico State automatically qualifying for DI spring regionals, Stanford came into the Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference (PMRC) seeding tournament as the top seed and with some optimism. The Cardinal had defeated two-time reigning spring champion UC Davis twice during the regular season and was contesting the April 14-15 matches in front of a home crowd.
RELATED: Different Davis Plays On • Women’s Rugby Scores: April 14-15 • Support TRB: Become a Patron
“We were definitely confident. We have a good squad,” Stanford coach Josh Sutcliffe said of the team’s mentality heading into the PMRC playoffs. “We didn’t roster some players, which shows that we’ve built since last year, when we finished the season with 20 players going to [the spring championship final four]. So that is huge for us.”
There’s a blend of experience and youth in this year’s squad, and captain Olivia Bernadel-Huey sets the example and directs the game from flyhalf. She is aptly aided by fellow members of the leadership group: fellow halfback Olivia Tayback, hard-charging prop Jett Hayward and hardworking flanker Kathryn Treder. There’s a sizable group of rookies, too, and Sutcliffe recalled fall practices where newcomers outnumbered the veterans.
January was dense with league games and Stanford was halfway through its season by month’s end. It provided multiple playing opportunities for the younger players, and the squad as a whole started adapting as injuries impacted the lineup. Chico State won the conference outright, but Stanford did well to finish 6-2.
The Palo Alto, Calif., team opened its post-season against Oregon State, the PMRC North’s second seed. Bernadel-Huey, Avery Tallman and No. 8 Lia Ferguson, who earned Player of the Match honors, scored three tries each in the 97-17 win. On the other side of the bracket, UC Davis posted four unanswered tries in the second half to defeat Washington State 36-22.
Saturday’s victors were guaranteed berths to the spring regionals, and one could assume that Stanford would play at home (it’s one of two western regional sites; BYU is the other) regardless of the outcome. But both teams respected the stakes at hand and played the game like everything was on the line.
The Aggies built a 10-point lead before Stanford starting finding its groove. Ferguson made good use of a midfield penalty and wriggled away from tacklers for a try. The No. 8 snapped the line again and this time hit Bernadel-Huey with the offload out of the tackle for a try, 14-10 Stanford. The forwards continued to pick on each other, and the units scored one try for Davis and two for Stanford during the remainder of the half: Stanford 25-14 UC Davis.
Ferguson scored her second try in the second half, and Stanford led 31-22 at one juncture. But as the time wore down, the Aggies strengthened.
“Their identity became more apparent throughout the game, and once they had a little success, they started to build on it,” Sutcliffe said of the team’s opponent. “At one point we were quite tired and were at the point where we stopped making the adaptations to what they were throwing at us. In the first half we were pretty good at adjusting to what they threw at us and as the game wore on, they got a few rumbles, we stopped putting players on the ground, and they were able to exploit that.”
It wasn’t lost on Sutcliffe that Davis’ lineup had regained some important players from injury, and they served as impact players in the second half both games. In the final 12 minutes, Davis scored four tries for a 44-31 win. (read more)
“It’s always hard to lose at home. It’s hard for the seniors to lose their last game. The atmosphere was like a final, and it’s really difficult to lose a final,” Sutcliffe said. “You’ve got to be able to reset, refocus, and then you have to set your process goals to what you want to fix, but you’ve also got to look ahead to what’s coming down the pipeline to you.”
Stanford will focus on getting healthy for the next round, which occurs April 20-22.
Stanford PacificMountainRugbyConference #2018SpringPlayoffs