The National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) will be the first college organization to name its national champions for the 2024-25 season. The title contenders will head to Hanover, N.H., this Saturday, Nov. 23 and contest their final games of the year on Burnham Field. The DII match kicks off at 12:30 p.m. ET, and then DI follows at 4 p.m. ET. There is no DIII final this year.
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Every DII final has featured two teams that had never faced each other in the championship. The same hold trues for 2024, as reigning champ Davenport University prepares for American International College (AIC) this Saturday. The Panthers are heading to New Hampshire after a 70-7 semifinal win against West Chester University. Sophomores Carrie Coyer-Westerberg (4), Nala Mayorga (3) and Alopa Nau (2) put in multi-try performances, while senior captain Aubrey Crist contributed 15 points on a try and five conversions.
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AIC, which won the 2021 DII title, has been the team to beat this fall and heads to the final after a 104-12 semifinal win against Frostburg State. Read more. Nine Yellow Jackets scored tries, with sophomore Naomi Dodd leading the team with four. When AIC and Davenport met in the regular season in Michigan, the Yellow Jackets won 40-31.
Similarly, when DI Dartmouth College and Harvard University met on Oct. 12, the Big Green prevailed 26-19. Both teams played tough semifinals and are now aptly primed for a 2023 championship rematch.
Dartmouth beat Brown University 47-33 in last Saturday’s semifinal. The Bears did a good job of closing in on Dartmouth, which two weeks prior had won their regular-season match 60-19. And the Bears’ five tries and four conversions, they represent the largest amount of points that Dartmouth has conceded all fall. Nonetheless, the Big Green established a 14-point lead through first-year Annie Henrich, who ended the day with 22 points (2T, 6C), and kept a two-score cushion throughout the match. First-years Katija Crawford and Jordynn LeBeau, sophomores Cindy Taulava and Katie Hansen, and senior Sia Meni also dotted down.
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Harvard played an even closer semifinal against visiting Army West Point last Saturday. Chloe de Leon’s try put the Black Knights up first, and then Harvard reclaimed the lead after Lennox London and Chloe Headland finished tries, 14-12 to the Crimson into halftime. A perfectly executed lineout and driving maul saw Harvard hooker Carly Lehman score, and then Victoria Stanley’s intercept try had the Crimson riding high, 26-12. Army kept pushing, and the game ended with Cecilia Ollis scoring and Alissa Eisenhart kicking a second conversion, 26-19 the final. Read Army’s match report and watch Harvard’s video recap.
Regrettably, the NIRA finale will not include a Division III match. The expectation was that Bowdoin College and Univ. New England would represent the division in Hanover, but evidently DIII administrators discussed and decided against a DIII final. When the teams met on Oct. 25, Bowdoin prevailed 99-0.