Irish Rugby Tours photo
Penn State and Life University were both active last weekend, while Lindenwood and BYU enjoyed bye weekends. All four programs will play 15s games this weekend.
PENN STATE
Penn State went on its annual spring break tour and went 2-1 in Ireland. The collegians beat Connacht 39-0 and saw Tess Feury lead with 14 points on two tries and two conversions. Sophie Pyrz, Azniv Nalbandian, Gianna Solomon and Fran Schaefer also scored. Penn State followed with a 40-7 over St. Mary’s and saw a different cast of players populate the box score. Claudia Norton (2), Emma Parves, Maggie Carly, Mindy McKeehan and Pyrz scored tries, while State College grad Darina Roe kicked the extras.
The reigning DI Elite national champion took on its toughest test in the UL Bohemians and had to fight back from a 10-0 first-half deficit. Tries from Gabby Cantorna and Feury, as well as a Cantorna conversion, propelled the visitors ahead in the second half, but a final penalty kick awarded a 13-12 victory to the Limerick side.
A highly anticipated match awaits on Sunday, March 25, as Penn State and Life University will bring two sides apiece to Blacksburg, Va., home base for Virginia Tech. The games will mark the first DI Elite friendlies of the 2018 spring season, and the JV/B-side games will be equally interesting, considering the great depth that both programs boast.
LIFE
At the end of February, Life University played a valuable game against the Capital All-Stars (35-31 loss) before sending some players to the LVI (and head coach Ros Chou to lead the Atavus Girls’ High School Elite team). This past weekend, the Running Eagles traveled to Nashville in conjunction with the U19 Nash Bash and defeated DI College Fall Champion Davenport 65-17 on Saturday. Freshman Malery Billingy scored multiple tries and fellow first-years Tatum Johnson and JaVonii Mae Merritt also dotted down. Taylor Makowski, Lekia Haynes, Amelia Poulin, Whitney Wilson and Lauren Dodd also contributed points.
With 32 players in tow, Life turned right around to face the Women’s Premier League’s Chicago North Shore on Sunday. North Shore Eagle Christiane Pheil scored first for the 5-0 lead, but then a try from Makowski and conversion and penalty kick from Madison Ohmann gave the collegians a 10-5 halftime lead. Karen Faget’s try five minutes after the break pushed the scoreline out to 17-5 with Ohmann’s conversion, and then North Shore captain Charli Jacoby closed the gap with a try. Billingy had the final say with a five-pointer at minute 68, 22-10, which held through regulation.
LINDENWOOD
The Lions took a break after winning the LVI Women’s Open 7s division in shutout fashion (read more) but will be back on the road this weekend for a 15s game against Chicago North Shore. Of the DI Elite teams, Lindenwood is mixing the most 7s into its spring schedule, and that will provide some exposure to Life, which is both hosting a 7s tournament (April 7) and traveling to Tropical 7s (March 31) along with Lindenwood.
BYU
The Cougars last played 15s on Feb. 24 – a 79-0 win over New Mexico in Albuquerque. Read more. Elle Peterson, Maya Wood and Alisa Baker all had multi-try performances, while Kaino Ah Quinn and Emily McFadyen contributed tries and conversions. Technically, two bye weeks followed, but members of the current team played for Iosepa in the LVI’s Women’s Open division and played Lindenwood twice, finishing second overall. BYU readies for DI Boise State this weekend, and the Cougars will play its best warm-up match against Central Washington on April 7.
BYU has been confirmed as the fourth DI Elite / DI Spring College playoffs site for April 20-21. The three other sites – Stanford, East Carolina, Life – will hold the Round of 16/8 on Saturday-Sunday, April 21-22. Victors advance to the May 4-5 finals weekend at a TBA location.