Tough DIII Final Goes to Endicott

Endicott College Women’s Rugby has won its second National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) 15s championship title after a 2-0 weekend in Houston. The Gulls beat East Stroudsburg in the Saturday semifinals and then Colorado School of Mines in Sunday’s final for an undefeated fall season. Senior and team captain Tess Merrill was named championship MVP, while Cai Machuga (Endicott) and Trinity Bohaty (Mines) took home Heart & Soul Awards from the final.

RELATED: Endicott Preview • Mines Preview

To get to the final, Endicott had to first get past East Stroudsburg in the semifinals, and did so in a big way. Head coach Carly Baker wanted everyone to be a threat on attack, and the group showed how crafty it can be. Nine players scored in the 91-24 win, and crucially, the Gulls got to work their bench early. Merrill led with four tries, while Sarah Aylwin, Laila Baer, Ashley McElhinney and Colleen Mitchell scored a brace of tries apiece. Kaila Bartolotti, Laryssa Landmesser and Bailey Tymeson also scored, and Caitlin Padeck handled all of the conversions.

The Warriors are new to this stage of NCR 15s and while the runout was humbling, it’s a point from which to grow.

On the other side of the bracket, Mines had a tough go against UW Platteville, last year’s national runner-up. The Orediggers played with a of possession in the first half and ended the day with six held-up tries. Some of those attempted dot-downs did eventually result in scores, but Platteville was so good at stealing ball in the tackle and in the breakdown, even on its own try line.

Early on, however, Platteville did have trouble clearing its lines, and a five-meter kick fell into the hands of the ever-dangerous Piper Lee. The freshman center scored and converted shortly afterward, 7-0. After that, the Pioneers’ kicking game came together and Mines struggled with the sideline management. Platteville took advantage of those opportunities and put Claire Dixon and Mary Callaghan away for tries and 10-7 halftime lead.

Mines scored five unanswered tries in the second half. The loose forwards were stellar, and McKenzie Williams (2) and Aliya Lynn (who tore an ACL in April 2024 and returned to play for this weekend) both scored in the 32-10 win. [RELATED: Williams interview]. Even though the Orediggers pulled away in the second half, it was a brutally physical game for all 80 minutes. And another slugfest awaited on Sunday.

The Endicott vs. Mines championship was the second match of the day inside Aveva Stadium. Two hours prior to kickoff, the Univ. Iowa beat Univ. Texas – Austin 72-5 for the DI Lone Star Bowl.

The rain was coming and going, and Mines adjusted its attack from the get-go. The ball stayed a bit tighter, while Endicott — to varying degrees of success — wanted to spread the ball. But that doesn’t mean that Mines didn’t take risks. The opening kickoff fell between Endicott receivers and No. 8 Bohaty ran right onto the bounce to put the game immediately in attacking territory. A bit of panic seemed to infiltrate the Endicott ranks, as the team attempted to get out of its own try zone. After some thrilling exchanges, Mines capitalized on the territory, as Williams got to the line and then scrumhalf Giovanna Arelio finished off the try, 5-0.

Endicott responded immediately and nearly scored through wing Brooke Stoncius, who regrettably had to leave the pitch with a leg injury. Flyhalf McElhinney was also on the sidelines on crutches. The Gulls launched a long campaign inside Mines’ 22 but a resolute defense kept answering. In minute 22, Endicott took a yellow card but managed to score five minutes later when Merrill wriggled through the try-line defense for try. There was some question about the controlled grounding but TMO confirmed the score, 5-5.

“It started to rain and we knew it’d be tougher to catch the ball, so we started to use our forwards more, and we have some very good forwards,” Landmesser said of halftime tweaks to the game plan. “We do this thing called, ‘Thunder,’ and we just keep picking and going, picking and going. They were a very good team with a very good defense, but that ended up working against them. … They were so focused in on the ruck that luckily we were able to swing the ball out to the right a few times and get it to the back line.”

Endicott came out of the break determined to snap the tie, and the stellar Chloe Marconi barreled over the try line early in the second half. Unfortunately, the star prop sustained an injury shortly afterward and was subbed off the pitch. With Padeck’s conversion, the Gulls went up 12-5. Fewer than 10 minutes later, Mines answered with a flat pass to Williams, who planted a fend and cut back across the defense for a try, 12-10.

Endicott stuck to “thunder” and got big-time carries from Annie Brosnan, Katherine Waden and Marin Shaffer, among many others. MVP Merrill was also prevalent in these pick-and-go series and would also step in at scrumhalf when the situation called for it. The senior has such a high involvement rate around the pitch.

Mines took a yellow card at minute 62, and three minutes later, Landmesser was in the try zone. The score came on the back of a long forwards series at the line, then a pass out wider to the backs. With a little bit more space in the defense, the center was able to pierce for a dive-over try, 17-10.

It was still a converted-try ball game, until minute 72. Endicott had an attacking scrum inside Mines’ 22 and the ball popped out the back of the set piece. Machuga did an excellent job of scrambling in the wet conditions and dishing to the on-running Landmesser. The center bolted for the try line and could not be stopped: 22-10.

The game was mostly decided but Mines kept pushing. A perfectly weighted kick from flyhalf Emma Barta released Lee from that tough interior defense and a foot race to the try line ensued. Lee won and took a bloody nose in the grounding, leaving a memorable imprint on the final minutes. But overall, the game belonged to Endicott, 22-15.

“I transferred from Plymouth State … and this is exactly the reason why,” Landmesser said with a championship medal around her neck. “Honestly it was the best decision I could have made. I felt like I hit a wall at Plymouth and here I feel like I can just grow as a player.”

In 2022-23, Endicott won the NCR double — 15s and then 7s national championships — and will be chasing that repeat in April 2025 at CRCs, presumably. Mines, too, will hopefully return as a stellar representative from the West.

In the 3rd place match, East Stroudsburg went up early on Platteville, and then Pioneers chipped away and surpassed the Pennsylvania team 34-17.

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