0
0
A good amount of teams were in motion during week three of the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA), although many games were non-conference matches. With that said, the majority of the regular-season games were all pretty competitive. [lead photo: AIC’s Kiyanah Edwards / Jackie Finlan]
There were three games in Division I, including the debut of DII American International College in the top-tier competition. The 32-17 win against the visiting U.S. Naval Academy also marked a first runout and victory for player-turned-coach Annekkia Ritter-Truxal. It was a tight first half, as Cam Henderson’s try, conversion and penalty kick afforded the Yellow Jackets 10 points. Navy got a try from Arica Spencer for a 10-5 first half.
In the 51st minute, a Navy maul sent Brooke Pierson across the whitewash (10-10), and then things looked promising for the Midshipmen as AIC incurred a yellow card. Instead, Naomi Dodd attacked off a solid mid-field scrum, and Henderson’s conversion put the home side up 17-10. And then in the span of 10 minutes, the Yellow Jackets pulled away with three tries: Henderson scored a second; Mahina Hafoka broke away and found Kiyanah Edwards for the finishing pass; and then Dodd returned the subsequent restart for a spectacular try: 32-10.
View this post on Instagram
Navy’s Caroline Shegogue closed out the scoring in the 78th minute with a try: 32-17 the final. Navy brought its second side to Springfield, Mass., to face DIII Bowdoin College and was rewarded with a win (more below). AIC is back on the pitch Oct. 3 against Dartmouth. Navy will host Lindenwood and Mount St. Mary’s on Friday, Sept. 25.
Army and Sacred Heart also played to a close decision, but the Black Knights did well to establish a 17-5 first-half lead that carried the home side through. Gabby Woenker scored two tries, Molly Kennedy added a third, and Emily Steen kicked a conversion. The Pioneers got on the board through Carrier Coyer-Westerberg.
Sacred Heart closed in after the break via Olivia Woods (17-10), but then a Chloe de Leon try in the 60th minute restored the point differential. Steen’s conversion made it 24-10 with the whole fourth quarter to play. The visitors did answer back with a Maria-Jean Paulino try and Reese Torticill conversion, making it 24-17 to Army, but the scoreboard remained idle for the final 15-or-so minutes of the match. The win marked Army’s first of the season and the second single-digit loss for Sacred Heart.
View this post on Instagram
“Our why and our purpose showed today,” Army head coach Jenn Salomon-Clayton told GoArmyWest Point.com. “We grafted to the final whistle and showed what we are capable of. Unbelievably proud of today’s effort!”
“We know Army is always going to be a battle, and we struggled to connect from kickoff,” Sacred Heart head coach Michelle Reed told SacredHeartPioneers.com. “I am proud of our resilience and bounce back in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to take the win. We look forward to learning from this match and coming back stronger this weekend.”
Army’s sub-varsity side is at Long Island University this Saturday while Sacred Heart travels to Queens in North Carolina.
La Salle and Mount St. Mary’s have a nice rivalry developing in terms of being comparable, strong competition for each other. The Explorers are in their second season as an NCAA varsity program and traveled to Emmitsburg, Md., in search of its DI win against of the fall. (Remember: La Salle, Mount St. Mary’s, Princeton and Long Island declared themselves ineligible for the 15s postseason and thus will play DI sub-varsity sides outside of their quartet.) La Salle built a 17-0 lead through Paisley Davey (T), Alyssa Williams (2T) and Jocelyn Terry (C) before Bella Canby put the home side on the board with a try. Terry added a penalty before the break for a 20-5 halftime lead.
View this post on Instagram
Williams dotted down a third try to kick off the second half (25-5) and then Mount St. Mary’s rallied with big Neely Denlinger breakaways and tries from Aubree Rzepka and Anna Yerofeyev. A conversion from Shaniah Mayers ended the game 25-17 in La Salle’s favor. The Explorers contest a non-NIRA match against NCR’s Temple, and the Mount will play Navy’s sub-varsity side on Friday (Lindenwood is also featuring in the doubleheader at the naval academy).
Division II
There was one Division II game and it occurred during consistent, heavy rainfall in Michigan. Nevertheless, host Davenport did well to manage the slippery conditions without compromising speed and width in a 58-5 win against Frostburg State.
View this post on Instagram
The Panthers dressed and played 25 players, including notables Alopa Nau and Marla Aymond, who did not travel to West Chester, Pa., for last week’s win. They featured heavily around the pitch and scored multiple times, as did freshman Trinity Ruatti. Very good field awareness often sees the wing in support of Nau, taking the offload and slashing to the try zone. And the incomparable Lelani Lepe at scrumhalf continues to shine, driving a fast game in tricky conditions, contributing points in the try zone and through the posts, and sending well placed kicks to relieve defensive pressure.
Davenport gets a bye week before heading to DI Sacred Heart in Connecticut on Oct. 3. Frostburg hosts Princeton on Saturday.
Non-Conference
There was lots of non-conference action, some of which occurred between NIRA teams in different divisions and others against more local National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) opposition.
DI Lindenwood returned Southern Nazarene’s trip to St. Charles, Mo., earlier this month and played the rematch in Bethany, Okla. The Crimson Storm is the reigning NCR DI national champion and home to, most notably, USA Eagle Telesi Uhatafe, who is currently overseas with the Eagles for the WXV Global Series. The first half was competitive on the scoreboard, with the home side scoring two tries to the visitors’ four, but the second half was all Lindenwood in the 48-12 decision. Kanani Watts (2), Ava Reuter (2), Aries Popoali’i, Gianna Veetutu, Ashley Misch and Jasmine Fehoko scored the tries, while Joselin Lopez and Gianna Diaz shared kicking duties.
View this post on Instagram
Lindenwood is back on the road for a doubleheader weekend. First it’s Navy on Friday night and then Brown travels to Annapolis for a Sunday match.
There was a nice doubleheader at AIC in Springfield, Mass. After the varsity side beat Navy’s top side for its first win in the DI competition, Navy’s second side took on DIII Bowdoin College. The Midshipmen triumphed 32-18 over the Polar Bears.
Bowdoin held the lead for most of the first half, as Ellie Carter kicked two penalty goals for a 6-0 edge. A pair of Ryan O’Kane tries in the final 10 minutes of the half and a Mallory Glover conversion put Navy up 12-6 into the break. In the second half, Navy outscored Bowdoin four tries to two. Glover, Ella Biggins and Katherine Smith (2) dotted down for Navy, while Malia McCollum and Jesse Vanston added five points apiece for Bowdoin. McCollum also kicked a conversion.
This competition is so important for Bowdoin, which is the lone DIII team playing in the DII 15s competition. The Polar Bears host West Chester this weekend.
View this post on Instagram
DII West Chester took it on the chin this past weekend against DI Princeton, which dominated in a 91-0 win. The Tigers put down 15 tries from Malinka Kwemo (3), Myah Natorp (2), Annie Huettel (2), Maizy Miller (2), Hazel Pron (2), Lehua Harris, Charlie Wolfe, Sara Zavieh and Ana Alfaro. Kwemo and Miller kicked four conversions apiece.
DIII New England played nearby New Hampshire, an NCR team readying for its DII competition. The 15s match went 31-5 in favor of the Nor’easters, thanks to tries from Sarah Daggett, Maeve McNulty, Sally Baptista (2) and Tori Demers. Caroline Rhodes added three conversions.
“Offensively, the team evolved over the course of the match, as they maintained possession for longer periods of time and showed much more continuity on the pitch,” head coach Ashley Potvin told UNE Athletics.
View this post on Instagram
“We had a solid defense effort throughout the match today,” the coach added, calling out Rhodes and Annabella Lafond in particular. “It was great to see improvement from last week, particularly in our completed tackles and tackle assists.”
UNE is idle until Friday, Oct. 2, when NCR’s Colby College (Maine) visits for a game under the lights.
Both Emory & Henry College and Guilford College traveled to NCR’s Univ. North Carolina for games, and the Tarheels triumphed 12-7 and 30-0, respectively. Guilford was originally supposed to host NCR’s UNC Charlotte, but that game was canceled and the Quakes pivoted to a Friday night match against NCR’s Univ. North Carolina. The Tarheels were already hosting Emory & Henry College for a game, so it made for a nice little trio. UNC won both matches: 12-7 against Emory & Henry, and 30-0 against Guilford.
Sept 25-27 Games
Looking toward NIRA round 4, the big game is DI Dartmouth vs. Harvard, both of which were off this past weekend. The game occurs in Cambridge, Mass., and this Ivy League matchup is also Harvard’s alum and friends & family weekend. The stands should be lively.
Games listed in order of kickoff times; livestream links to be added when circulated:
Lindenwood @ Navy
FRI @ 2 p.m. ET
Mount St. Mary’s @ Navy SV
FRI @ TBD
Princeton @ Frostburg St
SAT @ 10 a.m. ET • Watch
Sacred Heart @ Queens
SAT @ 11 a.m. ET
West Chester @ Bowdoin
SAT 11 a.m. ET • Watch
Army SV @ Long Island Univ
SAT @ 1 p.m. ET
Dartmouth @ Harvard
SAT @ 2 p.m. ET • Watch
Lindenwood v Brown @ Navy
SUN @ 11 a.m. ET