Norwich and Winona Claim Top Honors in ACRA Women’s Rugby National Championships

Top honors go to Norwich and Winona, the first-ever victors of the American Collegiate Rugby Association’s DI and DII championships, respectively. In the battle of the Cadets, Norwich showed a little more finesse in a game marked by start-and-stop action, pulling away 32-15 for the trophy. Winona spent the entire second half encamped in Notre Dame College’s end and was rewarded with a 28-14 victory.

The DI final wasn’t pretty consistency wise – a lot of turnovers, a lot of missed connections – and while some errors were skill-based, many were a product of the intense pressure that the teams exerted on each other. Every tackle, ruck, chase-down was life or death, and some desperate rugby evolved at times.

But when Norwich created a little breathing room and had the opportunity to string some passes together, they more dangerous and saavy.

Army showed up, however, and after spending the first quarter in Norwich’s end, was finally rewarded after mixing up its pick-and-go attack at the line and spreading the ball around to break up the defense. Flyhalf and captain April Emerson finally spied a hole and dove in at the 17-minute mark, 5-0.

The Norwich backs were fighting themselves a bit, stalling their collective progress with some bouncing passes. But vice captain Rose Bernheim made the best of every touch and put her shifty sidesteps to good use. She was in good support of prop Sabrina Villaneuva and Emily Colesworthy as they pushed Army’s defense backward, got around the corner and sped 50 meters for the try, which flyhalf Hannah Bell converted. Minutes later, in injury time, another speedy breakaway produced a corner try for the 12-5 lead at the break.

From the opening kickoff, the ball swung wide to wing Jackie Derocher, who found a seam and just before being brought to ground, offloaded to an at-pace Val McGuire, who is unstoppable with a head of steam, 17-5.

Army regrouped in the try zone, stating they couldn’t afford to get too far in the point tally or they’d never resurface. The West Pointers took it to heart, and at 45 minutes, wing Shantel Crichlow cut back inside her opposite for the score. Prop Betsy McCracken added a penalty a few minutes later, and suddenly it was a 17-15 ballgame.

But the drama of a comeback started to fade, as Norwich did well to move the ball away from messy breakdowns and into the hands of confident ball carriers. Joya Clark – on the back of McGuire’s stiffarms – scored in the 69th minute, followed by Baylee Annis and Riley Blankenship for the 32-15 win.

In the DII final, Winona also to dig itself out of a deficit, as Notre Dame College got up 7-0 15 minutes in when outside center Hannah Gauthreaux took the corner and outlegged all pursuers to center posts. Wing Christina Schmidt, who did well to match Winona flyhalf Katie Dries’ boot, converted the score.

Winona wing Lyndsey Bucki got a long break down the line 26 minutes in, and inside center Holly Edelburg finished off the effort with a pick from the tackle, 7-5.

With the half winding down, the Falcons stole a Winona ruck and earned a penalty in front of the posts. The team forewent a kicking attempt and instead sent No. 8 and All-Tournament selection Hannah Long into the try zone. Schmidt converted for the 14-5 lead.

Notre Dame College was in a good place as the half approached, but just before the break, Winona asserted that the game was far from over. Replacement hooker Sydney Norman finished off a long, pretty series inside the Falcons’ 10 meter, spinning the ball from touchline to touchline waiting for a hole to open up, it eventually did in the corner, 14-10.

Winona tightened up its rucks, took on the Notre Dame forwards and spent the remainder of the game in the Falcons’ end. Credit to Notre Dame College for their tenacious, tireless defense, but the Ohio school couldn’t rebuff the three tries – two from scrumhalf Georgia Porter and one from tournament MVP Holly Vassar – and Holly Zimmer penalty, 28-14.

ACRA also held consolation matches for DI and DII. Northern Iowa ran out to a 22-5 halftime lead against Navy, as scrumhalf Dakota Jeppson (2), flanker Crystal Nye and No. 8 Becca Brown scored tries, and flyhalf Angie McArdle added the extras. Navy got their first-half try from wing Sierra Snapp, who won the foot race to a loose ball in the try zone.

Wing Jessi Martin beat her opposite twice to put her team up 32-5. The game was out of reach for Navy, but the Midshipmen kept pummeling away. Arguably the most dangerous player on Navy, No. 8 Erika Pedersen, rounded out the last eight minutes of play with two tries and the 32-15 finish.

In DII, Vassar College got ahead of Kutztown 24-5, as once again, scrumhalf Margaret Kwateng finished off tough forward drives to score all of Vassar’s tries. Wing Mary McElduff handled the conversions.

Lock Faith Hughes accounted for Kutztown’s first-half try, which came from a familiar tactic: their relentless pick-and-go. Prop Kate Ludwick finished off an identical drive to pull with two scores during the third quarter, and the final 15 minutes were spent in Vassar’s end. The New Yorkers dug their heels in and overcommitted their players to the tryline-dive attempts.

Several times Kutztown had a well placed, unguarded backline screaming for the ball, but even when the player worked out of the ruck, the ball stopped at the inside center and crashed back in. Finally, however, on the final play of the game, wing Nicole Delong got the ball and took it into the corner, 24-15.

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The American Collegiate Rugby Association (ACRA) named all-tournament teams, sportsmanship awards and MVPs for the DI and DII championships, held last weekend in Auburndale, Fla. Each coach selected a certain amount of his/her players based on the team’s finish: 4th place received two spots, 3rd place three, 2nd place four, and 1st place named six players.

DI Sportsmanship Awards
Navy: Karissa Kleinschmidt – flanker
Northern Iowa: Meghan Flanigan – inside center
Army: Andrea Bagley – flanker
Norwich: Shanoui Gunn – flanker

DI All-Tournament Team
Navy
Erika Pedersen – No. 8
Sierra Snapp – wing

Northern Iowa
Crystal Nye – flanker
Melissa Janss – fullback
Eileen Lieb – flanker

Army
Betsy McCracken – prop
Melissa Thom – lock
April Emerson – flyhalf
Kate Roose – wing

Norwich
Sophie Mundell – flanker
Val McGuire – lock
Hannah Bell – flyhalf
Rose Bernheim – fullback
Joya Clark – wing
Baylee Annis – prop

DI Championship MVP: Sophie Mundell

DII Sportsmanship Awards
Kutztown: Faith Hughes – lock
Vassar College: Margaret Kwateng – scrumhalf
Notre Dame College: Mariah Eckrich – scrumhalf
Winona: Emilee Burkhalter – hooker

DII All-Tournament Team
Kutztown
Faith Hughes – lock
Tabetha Super – outside center

Vassar
Margaret Kwateng – scrumhalf
Meg Slattery – flanker
Dallas Robinson – No. 8

Notre Dame College
Hannah Long – No. 8
Maddie Goodwin – flanker
Rebecca Swainson – flanker
Kayla Rudman – hooker

Winona
Heather Kohl – fullback
Georgia Porter – scrumhalf
Lyndsey Bucki – wing
Kathryn Zahn – prop
Rachel Hunter – prop
Holly Vassar – flanker

DII Championship MVP: Holly Vassar

View the complete ACRA D1 & D2 Playoff Brackets and results here.