Photo: Doreen Madalian
Since all of the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) teams are NCAA varsity programs, their respective athletic departments produce match reports for the majority of games, and those articles are generally available same-day. Last weekend’s summaries are linked below, TRB peppered in some stats that speak to the overall season thus far.
DIVISION I
Army (2-1, 3-1) led Quinnipiac (1-2) 8-0 after the first half, and then pulled away for a 39-0 win. The Black Knights got another big performance out of sophomore fullback Codi Butt, who accounted for 19 points (2T, 3C, P) and leads the team and all of NIRA with 61 on the season.
Harvard (3-0) also posted a shutout, hosting Sacred Heart (0-3) in a 53-0 win. The Crimson spread the scoring around, with only junior Achele Agada dotting down two tries. Senior co-captain Cassidy Bargell also scored a team-leading sixth try this fall. The younger classes are showing well, and Chloe Headland’s try and two conversions sees the freshman lead the team with 45 points this season. Freshman Kiani Akina (4) and sophomore Nafi Fitisemanu (3) – former United (UT) teammates – have also been regulars in the try zone this season.
The DI game of interest occurred between Mount St. Mary’s (1-1) and Long Island University (0-3). Both are younger programs playing their first full DI schedule, and so there was some expectation for parity heading into this game. With that said, the Mount is more established than the Sharks, with solid numbers and Farrah Douglas as head coach since the program’s inception as an NCAA team. Jinnie Pratt is LIU’s third head coach since 2016 (learn more) but eager to grow the team. In the end, the Maryland team won 45-15, and Katherine Stern (2T) and Maya Grassi (5C) accounted for 10 points apiece. LIU put three players across for tries, and sophomore Ava Zopf scored her second of the season.
Dartmouth (3-0) and Brown (1-1) enjoyed byes this week.
DIVISION II
This group has been interesting in that there are only a handful of teams that are 15s ready right now, and that is part of the reason why programs have worked several non-conference games into their schedules. Queens University of Charlotte, for example, has played 7s and 10s games against fellow DII Lander and Alderson Broaddus, but has needed non-conference games against Navy, UNC Charlotte and Coastal Carolina to play 15s and work its big roster.
Last Saturday, the Royals posted its fifth shutout of the fall, beating UNCC 104-0. Twenty-nine players have scored points so far this fall, and freshman Cecilia Calhoun leads them all with 31 points (3T, 8C). Fellow first-years Maddie Hughes, Faith Holley and Lilly Separ have scored four tries so far this season. October continues to be interesting with non-league games against Virginia Tech and a mini-tournament that invites Univ. Northern Iowa, Denison and Guilford to town. AIC and West Chester are the DII fixtures to watch.
West Chester (0-0, 3-0) is in the same situation. The Golden Rams played DIII Univ. New England, Upstate New York’s Colgate University and Navy in non-league games. The latter occurred on Saturday, and the one-point decision is the subject of an upcoming feature. Stay tuned. Julianna Aliprandi leads the team with 39 points (3T, 12C), while Lauren Madalian (6) and Autumn Czaplicki (5) are the top try-scorers so far.
Lander played a 7s double-header against Clemson University on Friday night and banked two shutouts: 36-0 and 22-0. The Burt sisters, Jess and Bailey, teamed up for six tries total. Julia Anhalt contributed 11 points on a try and three conversions. The Bearcats will host West Chester this weekend.
DII AIC was idle, but not by design. The Yellow Jackets had two non-league games against Brandeis and Yale cancel last week. AIC has Colgate (Oct. 1) and West Chester (Oct. 6) in the near future, and you’ll want to watch Suley Guerrero (4) and Yasmeen Guerrier (3), who have been the top try-scorers so far. Freshman Kassidy Pothier leads the squad with 28 points (2T, 9C).
DIVISION III
This group has been active, although it does include more teams competing in the developmental league; i.e., 7s is the mode of play. Bowdoin (3-0) has put its hand up early for a title repeat and beat 2019 runner-up Univ. New England 41-12 last weekend. Molly Petronzio has been lights-out on the wing, scoring 10 tries so far, and sophomore Colleen Doucette is not far behind with seven.
New England College (NEC) and Manhattanville played three 7s games against each other, and the Pilgrims won the series 2-1, with an aggregate score of 32-30. NEC spread the ball around a bit and saw four players score tries, with Ari Hamilton and Alani Jones doubling up. Manhattanville’s senior captain, Kasey Molito, was unstoppable and scored five tries for the Valiants.
Colby-Sawyer was supposed to play Adrian College, but that game was canceled.