National Collegiate Rugby has its New Champions

National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) crowned its three women’s national champions today inside Houston’s AVEVA Stadium. Endicott College won the Small College title, UW Eau Claire won the DII trophy in shutout fashion, and Michigan took home DI top honors.

The day began with the Small College National Championship. Endicott College advanced after a a tough 31-19 semifinal win against Northern Michigan, while Lee bested St. Scholastica 51-0 on Saturday (read more).

“We were expecting a tough game all 80 minutes and that it would take all 80,” said Endicott No. 8 Carolina Stubbs. “Lee gave it their all. They did not roll over for us, but we just wanted it.”

 

 

Unforced errors, penalties and two blocked kicks kept the opening 10 minutes of play in Lee’s end. Endicott prop Summer Cardoza made good on the territory with a game-opening try that Tess Merrill converted.

Minutes later, Lee fullback Logyn Shollenberger inserted into the line and linked with Ava Zopf, who swerved around the defense for a big gain. The pursuit tackle halted the sprint just short of the try line and the Gulls were able to steal possession and kick down-field. But Shollenberger was well positioned for the receipt and beat the defense out wide for the try, 7-5.

 

 

Endicott extended its lead after flanker Jourdon VanAmburgh quick-tapped through a penalty and charged down field. Ball moved wide to fullback Merrill, who later switched to No. 8 and was equally dangerous off the back of the scrum, for the try: 12-5. Those three tries dotted down during the first 20 minutes, and the scoreboard stayed silent for the next 30 minutes.

Endicott was very aggressive in the breakdown and poach or drive Lee off the ball. sometimes there were penalties, but mostly it was more possession. The pressure off the line was good, too, and players like Grace Kenkel worked to meet ballcarriers behind the line.

Ten minutes into the second half, flyhalf Siena Macy did well to relieve some pressure with a well place kick from the Lee goal line. Merrill didn’t take any chances with a potentially bobbling ball and hustled to get underneath it for a catch on the run. The sophomore returned well and then phases at the line eventually saw VanAmbaugh bully over for another five, 17-5 to Endicott.

 

 

Lee wasn’t out. Even though some of the team’s strengths were being challenged, the Flames were always good for meters forward through players like No. 8 Gabby Beeler, Shollenberger and Zopf. Flanker Chloe Valentine scored from in close, and that made it a 17-12 game with 20 minutes to play.

The final quarter got gritty, and there were so many penalties. Endicott eventually incurred a yellow card for diving, but Lee wasn’t able to take advantage of the extra player. Instead, Endicott scored one more try. After first catching a line-drive and returning for a near-try, No. 8 Carolina Stubbs took a pop pass in a moment of confusion and turned it into weaving run through the heart of the forwards – try at minute 77.

 

 

“That was the icing on the cake. I was happy to do it,” Stubbs said. “It’s my senior year. That just felt like the kiss at the end.”

Endicott won 24-12, the team’s first Small College title and the closest final of the day.

UW Eau Claire and Marquette then filed into the stadium for the Division II National Championship in a rematch of the Great Waters finale. In that first showdown, Eau Claire won 29-0; on Sunday, the Wisconsin team won 68-0.

 

 

“It’s crazy,” UW Eau Claire co-captain Becky Kasprzak said of back-to-back shutouts at nationals. “We haven’t let up a single point since even before playoffs. It’s unreal. An amazing feeling.”

Flanker Julia Bancroft scored the first of three tries in the opening three minutes, and then co-captain Abbey Jacobs scored the first of three tries following a Marquette yellow card. The No. 8 was unstoppable from five meters out. Flanker Greta Schnur spun off an attacking lineout to score through a disjointed defense, and then championship MVP Cerys Ridd dotted down the first of four tries. Izzy Currie kicked a conversion for a 22-0 lead after 25 minutes.

 

 

Marquette then incurred a second yellow card, but to the same player, and so the team played the remaining 50 minutes at 14. That’s a tough disadvantage, especially after playing so much defense. When Marquette did play in favorable territory, Eau Claire flyhalf Lauren Lawston did a good job of relieving pressure with a few well placed kicks. Currie, Ridd and Bancroft score before the break: 42-0 into halftime.

Six more tries crossed in the second half, and in addition to the aforementioned scorers, Kaitlyn Moore also dotted down and Ridd handled the majority of conversions in the 78-0 win.

 

 

“I came from five years ago and kind of having a successful team, but we didn’t really have that bond, we didn’t really have that click,” Kasprzack said. “And now five years later … we all work really well together and all of sudden it paid off.”

Unlike Small College and Division II, the Division I title match was the only DI game of the weekend. So when Notre Dame College and Michigan took the pitch on Sunday, it was there first exposure to AVEVA Stadium and the championship weekend.

 

 

Michigan spoke up first, after a slew of penalties set up flanker Cynthia Deneus for a crash over the line five minutes in. Notre Dame College answered 10 minutes later, putting No. 8 Charlee McCormick into the try zone. Flyhalf Bella Gullatta’s conversion put the Falcons ahead 7-5.

A tense 15 minutes followed, but championship MVP Ember Larson soon cut the tension. From a set piece deep in Michigan’s end, No. 8 and Heart & Soul Award winner Gianna Torres borke through the defense and then offload to Deneus for more meters. Outside center Barb Ribeiro – who had an outstanding game on both sides of the ball – got the next pass and then found Larson, who sped down the sideline and just evaded the coverage coming across. Riley Fish added the conversion for the 12-7 lead.

 

 

A second Larson score evolved after Notre Dame College first lost a lineout and then was penalized in a scrum in its own 22. Michigan scrumhalf Sarai Magallon reacted quickly and moved the ball wide before the defense could regroup, and the fullback made it to the corner unscathed: 19-7 into halftime.

Michigan pulled away in the third quarter, as Larson and captain Lauren Kuffel scored (29-7), but the Falcons still had some gas. Gabby Dispenza, who was just a knockout on defense – so fast off the line and unforgiving in contact – scored from in close, nestling in with the forwards during a goal-line attack. With Gullatta’s conversion, it was a game – 29-14 with 20 minutes to play – but it was Michigan that wrestled control away.

 

 

Torres and Larson closed the game with tries, and Michigan won 41-14.

“We’re a really special team and a really special program,” Kuffel said. “Coach [Jamie] Frech, Coach Mo [Kelly], Coach Jason [Anthony] – they’re really special people, and they always bring out the best in us, kind of as a whole. There’s never any negativity, which is huge. … That really sets a platform for the rest of the team to stay positive even when things are down.”

 

 

In the third place matches, Roger Williams beat Wayne State College 49-10 in Division II, and Northern Michigan beat St. Scholastica 58-7.