Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) has crowned its first national champion, etching “Denver Onyx” onto the 2025 Legacy Cup trophy. This afternoon, inside TCO Stadium (Eagan, Minn.), Denver rallied from a first-quarter deficit to beat the New York Exiles 53-13. Onyx flanker Tahlia Brody was named championship MVP.
Denver entered the finale as the favorite, but New York did not play under that assumption. The opening 10 minutes saw the Exiles play with a good amount of possession, and as the game progressed, flyhalf Aly Cunningham showed herself to be a deft playmaker, especially off the boot. But there was no panic in the Denver defense, even when New York executed a solid lineout in attacking territory. Saher Hamdan made the first tackle and immediately jackaled the ball to relieve pressure.
The boots of McKenzie Hawkins and Kristin Bitter made sure changes of possession resulted in big territory gains. But otherwise, the eventual champion needed some time to sync its timing and execution on attack.
New York made its first big break from mid-field, when flat passes made their way to fullback Tess Feury. The Eagle darted into open space and then a couple of forward phases put play just outside the Denver 22. Cunningham smartly sent a skip pass to Misha Green-Yotts, who was wide open on the sideline. The No. 8 cut across three defending backs to the score the opening try in minute 12. Green-Yotts also scored the first-ever try in WER’s first-ever regular season.
Jetta Owens added the conversion, and New York led 7-0. Fewer than five minutes later, New York was back in points territory. Cunningham had sent a booming kick that Bitter chased to the Denver try line. The chase was on, and the fullback dotted down in the try zone, setting up a goal-line drop kick. Bitter sent the ball to the 22 and the New York attack resumed. Then a tackle-off-the-ball penalty occurred right in front of the posts, and Cunningham lined up the three points: 10-0 to New York after 17 minutes.
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Denver needed a response, and it came in the form of two tries in five minutes. Miscommunication on the Onyx’s restart resulted in a knock-on and scrum on the Exiles 15 meter. Captain Rachel Johnson, Brody and Rachel Ehrecke all took turns carrying from the base of the ruck, but it was Ina Bailey’s surge that pierced the line for five points. Hawkins converted, 10-7.
The next try started with a stolen lineout. Ehrecke got hands on the ball, and fellow lock Hallie Taufoou was equally disruptive as a defensive jumper. Overall, the Exiles struggled in this set piece, and not just from pressure. There were mistimings and over-throws, but New York exerted excellent force in the scrums, drawing penalties and pushing the Onyx backward.
Vice captain Jules Tordonato did well to clean up an errant pass and move forward, and then scrumhalf Carly Waters broke off the back of the ruck and hit Hawkins out the back. The flyhalf linked with Bitter coming through the line, and the fullback worked the defense to the sideline before hitting KB Slaughter on a switch back inside. The wing bumped off the defense, connected with inside center Kennedy Feasby, who then fed Waters to keep the break alive. The scrumhalf had both Bitter and Slaughter as offload options, but didn’t need them as she dragged the defense into the try zone. Hawkins converted the try: 14-10.
It was a really fun, fast try, but New York was far from relenting. The Denver front row had trouble supporting its weight and a scrum penalty was awarded to New York in the 30th minute. Cunningham booted the ball from the 40 meter to Denver’s 10. The lineout, however, sailed long, and Hamdan was there to gather. Slaughter went on one of many leg-pumping, never-say-die runs close to the sideline, and looked to get Denver out of trouble. But then a “off feet in the ruck” penalty allowed Cunningham to line up another three points, which she added in the 34th minute: 14-13 to Denver.
Feasby came off the pitch with an injury, and the back line shifted around as Alessandra Bender Cruz came on. A New York penalty allowed Hawkins to kick the ball to the opposing 22, setting up another solid lineout. Johnson peeled off the back of the maul, and then Decker, Taufoou and Bailey all punched at the line. The ball then moved away from the pile and to Nana Fa’avesi in the backs. The starting wing cut across one defender for gentlest of touch-downs, 19-13.
Cruz, a work horse who had completed three tackles in a row during that defensive stand, also came off with an injury, and Cari Pick ran on.
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As the scoreboard clock extended past 40 minutes, New York gave up back-to-back penalties, which were followed by Hawkins kicks to touch and stellar Denver lineouts. From the New York 22, Bitter, Bailey and Ehrecke all crashed into the defense, and then after a few phases, Waters went out the back to Hawkins. The flyhalf sent a skip pass to Fa’avesi, who fended the sideline defense for the corner try, 23-14 with the halftime whistle.
Sarah Minahan came on at scrumhalf in the second half and brought fun pace to the New York attack, and sees and chases opportunity on defense. The nine liked to go fast from the mark and reminded Denver of this trait after a scrum infraction. Cunningham punted the ball to the Onyx’s 35 meter, where a successful lineout occurred. But Johnson eventually poached possession, and Denver took advantage of that opportunity in a way that New York struggled to do all game.
Hawkins’ boot relocated play to New York’s end and another picture-perfect lineout followed. As sooner as jumper Ehrecke’s feet hit the ground, the maul had formed and was racing down-field. Bailey peeled off and then Bitter stabbed through to keep the defense scrambling. At the 10 meter, Ehrecke took a wider punch into the defense, and New York panicked a bit with an offsides penalty. A quick tap went to Johnson and then Ehrecke, who just got over the line. Hawkins’ conversion made it 31-13.
Denver’s tries were all pretty methodical, but it was perhaps the addition of some luck that broke the game open. Back on attack, Brody moved the ball to Tordonato, who then attempted to pass through the tackle. The ball was lost forward, but only after bouncing off the defender’s shoulder. Bender Cruz kicked the ball off the ground, chased it down, and circled toward the center for the team’s sixth try. Hawkins added the extras for the 38-13 lead after 50 minutes.
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Hawkins added three points a few minutes later. Bailey counter-rucked her team some possession, and then Slaughter went on another tackle-evading run. In open play, Hawkins kicked the ball over the top, releasing Bender Cruz the wing. The Mexico National Team player scooped up possession and cut across two defenders to the 10. An off-feet penalty allowed the flyhalf to kick for points, 41-13.
With the fourth quarter approaching, Taufoou stole a New York lineout and Slaughter ate up the sideline. After some phases, a high tackle on Bitter set up a kick to the five meter and lineout. New York played some solid try-line defense that got a break while a teammate recouped from an injury. The game resumed with a Denver scrum on the New York five meter. Johnson went weak off the back, and Ehrecke was right there to dig the ball out and quickly move it to Taufoou on the weak side and dive-over try. Hawkins converted, 48-13.
With the game pretty much decided, New York did an excellent job of pushing into the final 20 minutes. The team rushed kickers, took chances in the air, and put ballcarriers through the line with flat passes.
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One highlight occurred from a deep Owens kick, which fell in front of Fa’avesi and into Scout Cheeks’ hands. Bender Cruz nailed the chase-down tackle, cinching the wing’s ankles. But Cheeks was able to release and get to the feet quickly, diving for the line on the second attempt. Center ref Kat Roche had to employ the TMO to verify the grounding, but the review deemed the second attempt a knock-on. Nonetheless, New York kept giving.
But ultimately the day belonged to Denver, which kept running on impactful reserves like Mikaela Hall, Caroline Bullock and Carson Hann. The Onyx served these subs well and they were crucial to the team’s final try. Ball moved out to Hawkins and the flyhalf hit Hann back inside. The flanker was taken down and immediately popped the ball back to Hawkins, who burst through the scramble defense for the try. Bitter converted for the 53-13 win.
Brody was named championship MVP, and coincidentally, is a native New Yorker. Brody played WPL with New York Rugby Club (as well as other clubs) before heading overseas for Spain, New Zealand and England. The loose forward has just signed with the Loughborough Lightning for the 2025-26 Premier Women’s Rugby season.
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