Of the 22 NCAA women’s rugby programs playing in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA), half of them are Division I. Last Saturday was opening day, and 10 DI teams played their first regular-season 15s matches of the year. Elsewhere, there were couple of non-divisional matches as well as an important DII game. [lead photo: Pat Moroney]
RELATED: Women’s Rugby Scores: Aug. 31-Sept. 2
Of the five DI matches on Aug. 31, the Quinnipiac vs. Brown game brought the most drama. The teams were stalemated for 27 minutes, and then Quinnipiac broke through with tries from Kelsey Thomas and Kat Storey. Fódhla Ní Bhraonáin added a conversion for a 12-0 lead with 39 minutes gone.
Nikki Lynch (tackler) and Kelsey Thomas (passer) / Photo: Pat Moroney
Crucially, Brown snapped the shutout right before halftime. The home side sent Yona Allouche — who, alongside fellow first-year Genie Dickens, earned high praise from head coach Ros Chou — into the try zone, 12-5 into the break.
Nikki Lynch and Akilah Cathey capitalized on that energy shift, and they scored from lock and inside center, respectively. With Julia Murray’s conversion, Brown overtook the lead 17-12.
But Quinnipiac wasn’t ready to surrender, and minutes later, scrumhalf Ava O’Malley pealed off the back of a retreating scrum to score, 17-all. There were still 20 minutes to play, and the teams battled each other for that season-opening win. But the scoreline held: 17-17 full-time.
Photo: Pat Moroney
“While neither team is fully satisfied walking away with a tie, we were really happy with how physical and competitive our match was,” Chou told brownbears.com. “The resilience in a tight game is exactly what we need to see from the team to compete for a playoff spot. Quinnipiac is perennially a final four team, so it says a lot about our team to end in a draw.”
The other four DI games were more decisive. Reigning champion Harvard shut out Mount St. Mary’s University 106-0. Of the 12 try-scorers, junior Lennox London and sophomore Courtney Taylor dotted down three apiece. Junior Olyvia Snyder and senior Carly Lehman scored two tries each, and first-years Jojo Mignone and Dana Greer recorded their first tries in the Crimson kit.
2023 runner-up Dartmouth beat Army West Point 49-5. Captain Katelyn Walker finished off three tries to lead the team, while first-year Annie Henrich accounted for 14 points (T, 3C, PK). Kyla Widodo (2), Paola Arredondo Almeida and Allie Amerson also scored tries. Sophomore Zoe Weimer scored Army’s five points.
Hear from Head Coach Katie Dowty following a 49-5 win over Army to open the season!GoBigGreen | TheWoods🌲 pic.twitter.com/XxgZu3NjVY
— Dartmouth Rugby (@DartmouthWRugby) August 31, 2024
2023 semifinalist Sacred Heart kicked off the fall with a 67-0 win against Princeton. Alyssa Cunningham led teammates with 20 points on the day, kicking six conversions, a penalty and dotting down one try. Reese Torticill and Ashley Torres-Brown scored two tries apiece, while Fabiola Millien-Faustin, Makena Wright, Samantha Melvin, Megan Chura and Caitlyn Caldon also crossed the try line.
And finally, Queens University of Charlotte traveled north to the U.S. Naval Academy for a 40-7 win. The match marks Danny Harlow’s first win as Queens’ new head coach.
“Queens is a very strong team,” Navy head coach Murph McMcCarthy told navysports.com. “It’s always been a good program and they showed it in both halves. I’m proud of the way the girls played towards the end of the game as we got stuff figured out. Overall it was a tough loss and we got some stuff to fix.”
Navy got its try from Raquel Manadero. Queens has not published a match recap yet, but fans can watch the replay.
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Long Island University is the 11th Division I team and the Sharks traveled south to DI Elite national champion Life University. It was a very tough outing, as the Running Eagles banked a 102-0 win.
Four Division II teams were in motion. Originally, Davenport was supposed to play Penn State in a non-league match, but the Nittany Lions are still regrouping under recently hired head coach Lauren Shissler.
Virginia’s Emory & Henry College is keen to build to 15s and traveled north to Frostburg State to bank some important competition. During four 20-minute quarters, the Bobcats put together a 39-5 win and saw several standout performances from youngsters. First-years Natalie Allen (2), Kathryn Scully (T, 2C) and Scout Spadoni (T) all put points on the board for Frostburg, as did sophomores LJ Jordan (2T) and sophomore Birtukan Sherburne (T).
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New Haven went approximately an hour north for a game against American International College, and the home side won 89-0. The two will see each other again on Nov. 3.
And finally, DII Newberry faced DIII Warren Wilson in a three-game 7s series. The Wolves took 2-of-3 matches, but the first and final games were decided by a conversion. The hosts won the opener 12-10, and then Newberry won 17-5 and 19-17. First-years led the way for Newberry.
This Friday-Sunday sees a couple of regular-season matches, but most of the action is non-conference or cross-organization.
SEPT 6-8
DIVISION I
Quinnipiac (0-0-1) @ Harvard (1-0) (Fri)
Mount St Mary’s (0-1) @ Army (0-1) (Sun)
Non-conference
DI Navy @ DII Frostburg St
DII West Chester @ DI Long Island (Sun)
DI Queens @ DII Warren Wilson (15s)
Adrian (NCR) @ DII Davenport
Dartmouth JV @ DIII Bowdoin
DII Emory & Henry @ Wheeling (NCR)