The College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) held its women’s Division I and Division II Spring 15s Championship playoffs last Friday-Sunday, and now the stage is set for Sunday, May 5 in Houston, Texas. The two 15s finals occur during a larger CRAA championship weekend that also includes men’s and women’s, 7s and 15s matches. [Lead photo: J. Dalton Photography @jeffd2u]
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The DI spring quarterfinals took place on Friday, April 19 on the campus of Grand Canyon University. The temperature hit the 90s pretty early on in the desert, and water breaks occurred every 20 minutes. Despite that influential factor, great games and great competition followed.
In two of the quarterfinals, the eventual winners needed a final-minutes comeback to advance to Sunday’s semifinals. DI first-timer Claremont Colleges, the No. 3 seed out of the Pacific Desert conference, held a 17-10 lead over Western Washington with only minutes to play. The Vikings surged and put away back-to-back, converted tries for a 24-17 victory.
Host Grand Canyon and Cal found themselves in a similar situation. Read the play-by-play on TRB’s Twitter. The Bears, a No. 3 seed out of Pacific Mountain, took a 17-14 lead with approximately 15 minutes to play. The Lopes had given up a high-tackle yellow card, but rather than sag, the hometown team rallied with a go-ahead try and conversion from Sam Garcia, 21-17. The fullback was perfect on conversions on the day, and that skill off the tee would prove crucial on day two.
Stanford and Virginia won their respective quarterfinals, and there was a bit more space on the scoreboard there. The Cardinal raced out to a 27-0 halftime lead against Univ. Florida, but the Gators won the second half, 15-5, to end with some momentum: 32-15 the final. Florida also got in a consolation game against Cal to round out its time in Phoenix.
The Virginia vs. Arizona State quarterfinal was competitive despite the final score: 46-22 (play-by-play). The Hoos went up 21-0 in the first quarter, and then the Sun Devils answered with three-straight tries of their own. Virginia led 26-17 into the break, and ASU answered right after the restart, but then it was all UVA from in the final 30 minutes.
The teams enjoyed a well deserved recovery day on Saturday, and then it was semifinal time on Sunday. Stanford and Western Washington took the pitch first, and it was a rematch of the Pacific Mountain conference final, which the Vikings had won on April 6. The Bellingham program took the first lead of the game six minutes in, as Syd Copeland picked from the base of a ruck and dove into the corner. It took the rest of the half for the Cardinal to even up, and those points came through hard-running flanker Kristen Lees (try) and drop-kicking flyhalf Laura Bocek, 7-5.
The teams traded scores on the other side of halftime. Madisyn Cunningham took a great angle off the ruck for a Stanford try and Bocek conversion (14-5), and then wide phases with Marin Cohen connecting it all in the middle put Louisa Keating into the corner for Western: 14-12 with Copeland’s conversion.
But in the fourth quarter, Stanford pulled away, sending No. 8 Mahie Wilhelm away for two tries and flanker Sydney Davis in for another five. Lees converted two for the 33-12 final.
Similarly, Virginia took the first lead of its semifinal against Grand Canyon — but only after 30 minutes. No. 8 Carson Crenshaw pierced the line for a 5-0 lead that nearly held until halftime. But then center Angel Lucero got a little running room to use her fend and swerve to score, and Garcia added the extras from about 10 meters off the sideline: 7-5 to the Lopes into halftime.
A second lead change occurred after the Virginia forwards worked phases to the five meter, and then ball went two passes to reserve wing Olivia Allen for the corner try, 10-7. The mark of a good team, Grand Canyon answered back minutes later. Lucero looped through the back line and had momentum behind those fends to get the try zone. Garcia added a second conversion for the 14-10 edge that held until full time.
Stanford and Grand Canyon head to the DI spring 15s championship, and they do so after some hard-earned wins. The two teams will face each other at 4 p.m. CT on Sunday, May 5.
Division II had a very different setup than DI did this spring. With three conferences competing toward post-season eligibility, a final’s play-in was necessary, and that game happened on Saturday in Irvine, Calif. The home team and Pacific Desert champion, UC Irvine, hosted West Coast conference champion Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The Mustangs went big and banked an 80-12 victory to secure its spot in the DII Spring 15s Championship against Florida champion Eckerd College. Kickoff is 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 5 in Houston.