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NIRA National Finalists Named

  • 11 Nov 2019
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Photo: Doreen Madalian

The National Intercollegiate Rugby Association has named its finalists in the Tier 1, Tier 2 and Division III national championships, to be held Sunday, Nov. 17 at Harvard.

TIER 1

Harvard University will enjoy home-field advantage in the Tier 1 national championship but the U.S. Military Academy (“Army”) enters the final as the favorite. The teams faced each other on Sept. 7, and the Black Knights won that contest 34-10 before going undefeated through the rest of the season. Army and Harvard have played a similar amount of matches this fall; however, Army has enjoyed a bit more diversity in opponents, defeating Penn State 70-0 and losing to Canadian powerhouse St. Xavier 20-19.

During Saturday night’s championship semifinal, Army defeated Quinnipiac for the third time this season, 54-10. The scoreboard was idle for the opening 15 minutes and then the trusty boot of Bayleigh Gable slotted a penalty for Army. Kaitlyn Schwarting, Sam Sullivan (4), Kaz Lewis and Damaria Morton followed with tries, and with McKenzie Borchers’ conversion, Army led Quinnipiac 40-0 after 60 minutes. In the final 12 minutes, the teams added two tries apiece, with Maya le Rossignol accounting for both of the Bobcats’ tries and Gable and Julia Riekena dotting down for Army.

Harvard has shown resiliency this fall, perhaps best displayed in its back-and-forth with Dartmouth. The Crimson won the teams’ first meeting 50-32, but the rematch saw the Big Green win 41-22 for the Ivy League championship. The rubber match occurred Saturday in the national semifinals and a wonderful, lead-changing battle evolved. Dartmouth actually scored more tries as Idia Ihensekhien and Ariana Ramsey dotted down twice apiece (Kristen Bitter added a conversion), while Emily Prentice, Sofie Fella and Delia Hellander scored for Harvard. But Milan Roberts connected on two penalties – the second of which occurred in minute 79 and produced the final lead change – in addition to a conversion for the 23-22 win. Harvard showed a lot of grit, and that goes a long way in the playoffs.

Neither Army nor Harvard have won a Tier 1 national championship. The Black Knights competed in the first-ever NIRA final against Quinnipiac, which won the first three trophies, and the Crimson has featured in one national championship, in 2018 against Dartmouth.

TIER 2

West Chester University has also gone undefeated in Tier 2 play this fall, a program first, and needed a comeback effort to defeat Mount St. Mary’s College in Saturday’s semifinal. The Maryland program spent the opening quarter building a 12-0 lead through Shandree McNatt and Julie Crochet tries and Maya Grassi conversion. The Golden Rams then rallied with tries from Autumn Czaplicki, Faith Morley and Heather Spangler, and Kylie Corless’ conversion gave the home side a 17-12 lead.

The Mountaineers kept pushing, sending freshman standout Jalana Garcia into the try zone for a 19-17 lead with Grassi’s conversion. But then the final quarter saw West Chester surge, as Haley Andreasen, Haley Spangler and Heather Spangler scored tries: 32-19 the final.

West Chester will play Brown University in the Tier 2 final, and akin to the Tier 1 championship, the teams last saw each other on Sept. 7. The Golden Rams won that game 25-14, but it marked the only Tier 2 loss for the Bears this fall (Brown lost to Tier 1 Dartmouth and Harvard in Ivy League play). Brown was coming off a 36-29 win against Queens University of Charlotte and thus had recent knowledge of its semifinal opponent Saturday.

The Royals held a lot of possession and it translated into a 15-13 halftime lead, but the Bears were able to do good things with the ball it had. Brown led for the majority of the match and got its tries through Lexi Nelson, Abby O’Keefe, Mahdia Parker and Kate Molloy, while Olivia Duba added a penalty for 23 points. Queens scored two tries through Antares Lance and another through Angelica Rodriguez in the 23-15 decision to Brown.

TIER 3

New England upset top-ranked Colby-Sawyer College, which is without former head coach Ken Pape, in the semifinals. The Nor’easters scored first but several lead changes followed for a thriller of a knockout match. Katie Berger, Colby Williams and Madison DeRosa scored New England’s tries, but it was Mariah Chase’s two penalties and two conversions that afforded the edge on the scoreboard .The Chargers scored through Sydney Jackson (2), Erin Wholey and Julia Anhalt, who also kicked two conversions. UNE won 25-24 for the berth to the final.

Bowdoin College and Norwich University also supplied the drama, as the Polar Bears outscored the Cadets two tries to one: 12-7. Two minutes in, Bowdoin capitalized on a penalty opportunity and put Safiya Osei into the try zone. Sage Kashner converted for the 7-0 lead.

Norwich then tied it up as flanker Emily Ngo took a turnover ball into the try zone and Emma Paradis converted: 7-all. The teams emptied the tank in the second half but Bowdoin’s Sara Nelson was the only on to cross for points. It was enough for the win and berth to the final.

FINALS SCHEDULE

Eastern Time / Cambridge, Mass.

10 a.m. Division III Championship: Univ. New England vs. Bowdoin College

12 p.m. Tier 2 Championship: West Chester Univ. vs. Brown Univ.

2 p.m. Tier 1 Championship: U.S. Military Academy vs. Harvard Univ.

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