NCR Small College Nationals: Round of 16 So Close

Last weekend was a big one in terms of National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) shoring up its postseason brackets. Several women’s conferences held their championships, and now victors and runners-up can shift attention to regional championships in November. The following is a Small College Division update, with Division I and Division II reviews to follow.

RELATED: Women’s Rugby Scores: Oct. 28-30

The largest of the NCR women’s competitions, the Small College Division knows all of its national Round of 16 participants, but there is one more game on Nov. 6 that will impact seeding. The national Round of 16/8 (aka, regional championships) occurs Nov. 12-13 in four locations:

West – Wayne, Neb.
Midwest – Elkhart, Ind.
South – Culpepper, Va.
East – Beverly, Mass.

The four regional champions advance to nationals on Dec. 3-4 in Houston.

OCT. 29-30 COMPETITION UPDATES

Eastern Pennsylvania (2): East Stroudsburg defeated Shippensburg 70-12 in last Saturday’s conference semifinals, while York best Loyola (Md.) 50-17. Sunday was the league final and a rematch of one of the tightest games of the season. ESU kept its undefeated record intact and takes the EPRU conference title to South regionals in Virginia. York is also regionals bound and will compete in the Midwest bracket in Indiana.

Great Waters (2): Northern Michigan repeated as conference champion, defeating UW Platteville 30-5 in Saturday’s semifinals and Univ. Chicago 50-5 in the title match. [Interview with NMU coach Tina Nesberg in the hopper.] Chicago beat Michigan Tech to advance to the final, and both teams advance to regionals, but at different locations. Northern Michigan flows into the Midwest bracket at Elkhart, Ind., and Chicago routes to the West bracket in Wayne, Neb.

Northern Lights (2): College of St. Scholastica and Moorhead faced each other in their final regular-season game, and the former won that Oct. 22 match 42-17. The gap closed in the title bout last Saturday, but Scholastica came out on top, 33-22. Both teams head to Wayne State College for the west regional championships.

Ohio Valley (1): After its 31-19 regular-season win against Wooster, Baldwin Wallace clinched the Ohio Valley conference title and berth to Midwest regionals.

 

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Rugby Northeast (1): Standings name the regionals rep and Colby College will be heading to eastern regionals in Massachusetts. The team is scheduled for a DII friendly against Roger Williams, which will be a good tune-up heading into the post-season.

South Atlantic (2): Lee University won the SARC championship 42-5 against The Citadel last weekend, and both advance to the South regional championship in Culpepper, Va. They’ll be joined by Upstate New York runner-up St. Bonaventure and EPRU champ East Stroudsburg.

Upstate New York (2): SUNY Cortland repeated as conference champion with a 47-17 title win against St. Bonaventure last Friday. Both teams advance to regionals, with Cortland heading to Massachusetts for the East bracket, and St. Bonaventure heading south to Virginia.

ALREADY BOOKED FOR REGIONALS

• The Colonial Coast championship is Nov. 6, but both finalists Endicott and Salve Regina will feature in the NCR eastern regionals in Beverly, Mass.

• Calvin College is the only small college in Great Lakes and is penciled in for Midwest regionals in Indiana. Last weekend, Calvin beat Oakland 107-10.

• Mid-America rep Pittsburg State is heading to Wayne, Neb., for Western regionals.