The Tri-State Rugby Conference held its women’s 7s championship at Stony Brook University on April 16, and the finish was identical to 2022. Columbia University faced Fairfield University in the final, and the Ivy Leaguers took the title 24-15. Both teams advance to the College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) Division II 7s Championship, which will be held in conjunction with the Division I tournament on May 13-14 in Dallas, Texas.
RELATED: CRAA Holds 2 Separate 7s Championships
Sixteen teams were divided into four pools of four. Last year’s finish informed the seeding, and the top-four teams won their respective pools. Columbia, Fairfield, Marist College and Vassar College all went 3-0 during pool play won their quarterfinals and advanced to the semifinals.
POOL A
Columbia 34-0 Marist 2 (replaced Albany)
Columbia 24-0 Montclair St
Columbia 32-5 Rutgers
Rutgers 12-0 Montclair St
Rutgers 33-5 Marist 2
Montclair St 19-7 Marist 2
POOL B
Marist 46-7 Molloy
Marist 47-0 New Paltz
Marist 19-12 Stony Brook
Stony Brook 39-0 New Paltz
Stony Brook 45-0 Molloy/Maritime
Molloy/Maritime 17-0 New Paltz
POOL C
Vassar 33-0 Fordham
Vassar 24-0 College on NJ
Vassar 14-0 RPI
College of NJ 15-5 RPI
College of NJ 29-14 Fordham
RPI 15-5 Fordham
POOL D
Fairfield 24-0 Drew
Fairfield 25-0 Hofstra
Fairfield 22-0 Siena
Hofstra 32-12 Siena
Hofstra 31-5 Drew
Drew 15-12 Siena
Columbia knocked out Marist 27-10 in the semifinals, and there was just one try scored between Fairfield and Vassar: 5-0 to the Connecticut side. A quality back-and-forth final followed, but Columbia gave a little more in the 24-15 victory.
QUARTERFINALS
Columbia 45-0 Stony Brook
Marist 22-10 Rutgers
Vassar 29-7 Hofstra
Fairfield 12-5 College of NJ
SEMIFINALS
Columbia 27-10 Marist
Fairfield 5-0 Vassar
CHAMPIONSHIP
Columbia 24-15 Fairfield
Columbia and Fairfield will face fellow CRAA DII teams at 7s nationals; however, CRAA has not been communicating which teams have qualified so far. The DII West Coast conference crowned Cal Poly SLO its champion, and we know the Mustangs intend on competing. Former titleholder San Jose State finished runner-up, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to also see the Spartans in Dallas. The Pacific Desert (SoCal) held a qualifier in October and San Diego State Univ. won that seed.
USCGA shut out its 7s opponents this spring.
New England Wide held its conference championship last Sunday, and the final came down to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Yale University. The Bears took a 5-0 lead into the half and then weather forced the finalists indoors. USCGA can’t participate at nationals, so regardless of the outcome, Yale was always going to get the bid. So the teams called it at half, as the wretched weather raged on. It is important to note, however, that Coast Guard scored 526-0 unanswered points this spring 7s season.
There are several more DII conference that are eligible to send representatives to 7s nationals; however the only leagues that have some kind of 7s setup running at the Mid-Atlantic (although Temple and Kutztown are featuring in the CRCs closer to home), Rugby Northeast (Roger Williams won DII and heads to CRCs; UMass Lowell is runner-up and CRAA eligible), Rocky Mountain (Colorado School of Mines and Colorado College are CRC-ing). Pacific Desert (SoCal) held a qualifier in the fall and San Diego State Univ. won that tournament.