National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) just closed on a massive three days of women’s 15s playoffs, and now Houston, Texas, awaits the arrival of 10 total teams vying for DI, DII and DIII national championship titles. The following is a brief review of last weekend’s action, but stay tuned for features on all the teams heading to Texas. Check out NCR’s championship hub, which not only has brackets, box scores, livestream links but also location and ticketing information for the Dec. 7-8 finale at SaberCats Stadium.
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DIVISION I
Division I will name a new national champion in 2024. Northeastern University in its first NCR 15s season knocked off two-time-reigning titleholder Michigan 32-26 in Friday’s quarterfinals. Wheeling University is also an NCR newcomer and competing in its first-ever 15s season, and celebrated the occasion with a thrilling 31-27 quarterfinal win against Virginia. In Sunday’s semifinal, the West Virginia program had the legs for a 35-19 win against Northeastern.
The Bearcats are led by a quartet of former Lander University student-athletes — Ema Tai, Bella Gullatta, Dakota Burgess, Alexis Dallas — who transferred to Wheeling with head coach Ken Pape. Interestingly, Gullatta is poised to play in a third national championship — all with different teams. The Ohio product represented Notre Dame College in the 2022 NCR DI championship, then Lander in the DII NIRA final, and now Wheeling in the DI NCR championship.
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On the other side of the bracket, Southern Nazarene University is looking to make history, as well. The young Oklahoma program layered in tough competition — BYU, Lindenwood — during the regular season, and that exposure no doubt aided two big post-season wins in Kansas City. The team beat Big 10 runner-up Purdue 55-7 in the quarterfinals, and then after a day’s rest, beat Northern Iowa 62-17 in the semifinals. The Panthers were coming off a big Round of 8 match Friday, edging the Univ. Colorado 24-22 for the semis berth.
The DI championship occurs Saturday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. CST, after the DII and DIII national semifinals conclude inside SaberCats Stadium.
DIVISION II
Univ. Cincinnati, Coast Guard Academy, Univ. Wisconsin Eau Claire and Vassar College won their respective regional championships last weekend. Three of the four teams are returners from the 2023 national semifinals, but the narrative has shifted a bit.
Notably, two-time reigning national champion UW Eau Claire took an unexpected route to the final four. The Blugolds lost their conference semifinal to Marquette and finished third overall in the Great Waters. The team applied for and was awarded an at-large bid to the national Round of 16, and made the most of the second life. Eau Claire beat UT San Antonio 69-15 on Saturday and Grand Valley State 51-0 on Sunday. It’s worth noting that the Lakers eliminated Great Waters champion Illinois in the Round of 16, rallying from a 22-0 halftime deficit to win 32-22.
Eau Claire will face Cincinnati in the Dec. 7 semifinals. The Bearcats shifted to Allegheny this fall and took advantage of some tougher competition in the hybrid league. Cincinnati knocked off Great Lakes champ Bowling Green State 56-12 on Saturday and Great Waters runner-up Marquette 27-15 on Sunday. Cincinnati is the new team relative to 2023 semifinals, but has program history at this stage of the playoffs.
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On the other side of the bracket is what is now a classic: Vassar vs. Coast Guard. The Brewers won their two playoff games in Culpeper, Va., rather comfortably, outscoring New Hampshire and William & Mary by a combined 76-5. Sophia Bailey (5) and Jude Robinson (3) led on tries scored and Zoe Lynch kicked eight conversions. Up north in Canton, Mass., Coast Guard handled Delaware in their Round of 16 match, 48-12, and then met a tough Fairfield University in Sunday’s quarterfinal. The Connecticut team had eliminated Roger Williams on Saturday with a 26-17 win, and then pushed the Bears in a 17-15 contest. One conversion the difference, and Coast Guard moves on.
DIVISION III
Division III was always going to name a new champion this season, as the current titleholder promoted itself into DI in January 2024. Endicott College has made a strong case as favorite, posting two shutouts during last weekend’s Round of 16/8 playoffs and bringing the most post-season experience to Texas. On Saturday, the Gulls beat Bentley 83-0 and then eliminated Colby 54-0 in Sunday’s quarterfinals. (Colby outlasted Siena in a thrilling Round of 16 match, winning 66-61 on Saturday). Tess Merrill led with seven tries on the weekend, while Caitlin Padeck contributed 30 points on 15 conversions.
But Endicott wasn’t the only team to go unscored upon on the weekend. Colorado School of Mines, competing in its first DIII 15s season in NCR, shut out Northern Michigan University 55-0 in the Round of 16. On Sunday, the Coloradans faced Univ. North Dakota — which had beaten Wayne State College 41-40 on Saturday — in the quarterfinals and ran away with a 62-0 win.
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The Orediggers will face Univ. Wisconsin Platteville in the national semifinals on Dec. 7. Platteville finished runner-up in the DIII national championship last year and looking like a team ready to take that final step. The team opened with a 63-0 Round of 16 win against Loyola of Maryland and then faced Niagara University, which had beaten Gannon 43-34 to advance to the quarterfinals. Platteville prevailed on Sunday with a 55-29 win.
EPRU’s East Stroudsburg University is a new face to this stage of playoffs and really had to earn its spot in Houston. After a solid 61-10 Round of 16 win against Lee University (which ended up playing 10s its consolation match on Sunday with Christopher Newport), the Pennsylvania team lined up against SUNY Geneseo, the Upstate NY champ. The teams went toe to toe for the entire 80 and ended regulation tied at 12. Sudden death followed and penalty kick sealed it for ESU, who will face Endicott in the national semifinals.
NCR 15s NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 7-8
SaberCats Stadium, Houston, Texas
DI FINAL (Sat)
Southern Nazarene v Wheeling
DII SEMIFINALS (Sat)
Vassar v Coast Guard
UW Eau Claire v Cincinnati
DIII SEMIFINALS (Sat)
Endicott v East Stroudsburg
UW Platteville v CO School of Mines
DII & DIII FINALS (Sun)