CGA Bears Seek DII Final’s Berth

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy returns to the semifinal stage of the USA Rugby DII Fall College Championship for the fourth-straight year. The New London, Conn., team has finished third the previous two years, and is hopeful for a final’s berth in 2019.

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Coast Guard advanced to the regional championship weekend after a 30-point win over Fairfield University in the Fall Round of 32. That victory set up the Fall Round of 16 match against Mid-Atlantic runner-up Temple University, which had defeated Roger Williams to advance to regionals. (See more scores)

“The team was able to fully dictate the Temple match,” Coast Guard head coach Clare Dorsey assessed. “There was an adjustment period, as there often is, as the players got used to the way the ref was calling the match, but otherwise it was a pretty dominating performance in the first half.”

The Bears built a 41-0 halftime lead, as outside center Grace McInturff, wing Mary Sims and fullback Hollis Roush touched down seven tries, and Roush kicked three conversions.

“The second half was a lot closer,” Dorsey continued. “I will mostly attribute that to some lost intensity with the comfortable lead we had.”

Sims and Roush added tries, and the bench got good field time. The Bears finished with a 53-7 win and berth to the next-day quarterfinals. Fellow New England Wide conference mate Hartford had also won its Fall Round of 16 match: a 50-40 win over Mid-Atlantic champion Bloomsburg. The weekend prior, Hartford traveled to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to knock off Tri-State runner-up Marist by four points and proved itself a contender. (Read more.)

“There were definitely some nerves going up against Hartford,” Dorsey recalled the team vibe. “Although we produced a pretty big point differential the first time we played them, we allowed a lot of tries, particularly by their number 8 [Rama Sisay], and we also knew that Hartford had gained back some players since then. Still, there was a sense of determination by the team to see the match through.”

“Be unrelenting” was central to the messaging, and that mantra was called upon after Hartford scored first in the teams’ Sunday quarterfinal.

“Weather conditions on Sunday definitely impacted the match but I was impressed with how the team handled it,” Dorsey considered the rain and mud. “Although our backs players score the majority of our tries, the forwards always play an important role on offense. The match against Hartford was no different.”

The coach called out lock Sadie Simons, flanker Ashley Hatfield and No. 8 Katherine McDonnell for consistently carrying beyond the gain line and maintaining possession. That allowed Coast Guard to build some momentum and produce the next four tries through Roush (2), Sims and wing Jordon Russell. Hartford added a second try in the waning minutes for the 24-12 decision to Coast Guard.

“It was our lowest-scoring match of the season but we had four quality tries in sub-par conditions and managed to hold Hartford’s number 8 to zero tries for the first time all season,” Dorsey noted.

The coach didn’t point to one standout performance but the 10 senior starters who stepped up throughout the game. That has been one of the team’s strengths this year, its cadre of veteran leadership, but it has a solid group of young talent in development as well. Sophomore Rhen Johnson, for example, will replace flanker Catherine Burns, who suffered an injury against Hartford, in the starting lineup. It’s a notable loss, but the team is deep in the loose forwards and Johnson has banked solid A-side time.

“The win against Hartford seemed to complete the journey that the team has been on since the loss to UVM,” Dorsey referenced the regular-season defeat. “We have worked so hard since then to prove that Coast Guard rugby is still a force to be reckoned with. Beating Hartford in a close match where we couldn’t afford to let up for any of the 80 minutes proved that we can go out and get the tough wins.”

That knowledge will come in handy against Winona State, the team’s semifinal opponent on Dec. 7. The teams last saw each other in the 2016 fall semifinals, and a lot has changed for both programs since then.

“We are excited to play Winona State. It’s fun to play someone different,” Dorsey looked ahead. “They have played a DI schedule this season, which is interesting, but we’re not going to let that intimidate us. We’ll work on some strategy this upcoming week but it’ll come down to 80 minutes of rugby and the win will go to whichever team can assert their will the best. I’m pretty hopeful it’ll be us.”

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