2009 NSCRO Women’s Collegiate Divisions 3 and 4 National Rugby Championship

MIT Div 3 Champions
MIT Div 3 Champions

Nov. 22, 2009 – Cherry Hill, NJ

On a picture perfect Fall day, the National Small College Rugby Organization’s Divisions 3 and 4 Women’s Collegiate Championships were concluded with a dominating performance by the New England RFU Champion MIT over the East Penn RU Champion East Stroudsburg University by a score of 41 to 5 in the D3 final while Drexel University (East Penn RU Champion) held off Wentworth Institute of Technology (New England RFU Champion) 22 to 7 to capture the D4 title.

MIT and East Stroudsburg kicked off the D3 final in what was expected to be a close encounter. ESU started fast and put a lot of pressure on the MIT forwards. 10 minutes into the match, ESU’s Stephanie Carmella intercepted a pass from MIT flyhalf Liz Umhoefer and ran 35 meters to score the first try of the match and give ESU a 5-0 lead. ESU focused on ball retention with its forwards and keep the ball away from MIT speedster Ade Ogunniyi. MIT’s forwards stood their ground and began to exert their own pressure with controlled rucking. MIT’s center Rachel Forman finally

Drexel Div 4 Champions

notched their first score to tie the match at 5-5 with 20 minutes left in the first half. About 4 minutes later, Umhoefer redeemed herself with a great run to set up Ogunniyi for an easy run in to give MIT the 12 to 5 lead. With less than 5 minutes to go in the half, MIT won an ESU put in at a 5 meter scrum and no. 8 Carly Narlesky scored. Then with seconds to go in the half, MIT won a ruck at half way and the ball was feed out to Ogunniyi and she out ran 2 defenders to give MIT a 24 to 5 half time lead. MIT’s pressure at an ESU scrum only 2 minutes into the second half caused a turnover and flanker Sam Cohen scored to run

Drexel Div 4 Champions

the lead to 29 to 5. Just 5 minutes later MIT’s forwards won another ESU 5 meter scrum feed and Ogunniyi scored to up the lead to 36 to 5. While ESU fought valiantly and never let down they could not find a way to score. They did keep MIT from scoring again until just about the final whistle when who else but Ade Ogunniyi took off on a 25 meter run beating 4 defenders. Final score MIT 41, ESU 5.

On Saturday, MIT ran past Hofstra University (Met New York RFU Champion) 63 to 5 with wing Ade Ogunniyi scoring 8 trys and East Stroudsburg toppled University of Rochester (New York State RC Champion) 40 to 14 in the D3 semifinals.

MIT’s talent scrumhalf Alyssa Baccarella was named MVP, while ESU’s feist scrumhalf Michelle Yoo was named the “Heart and Soul” of her club and was awarded the game ball.

In a match from the school of hard knocks, Drexel and Wentworth fought both ‘tooth and nail’ in the Division 4 final. Both teams came into the match undefeated. Both teams meant business with hard hitting both in forward and back play. Drexel took an early 5-0 lead when Wentworth went on attack and center Cathy Ordile scored to give her club the 7-5 lead. Drexel’s speedy scrumhalf Hannah Bennett scampered in for a late 1st half try to give Drexel a 12 to 7 halftime lead. The 2nd half started taking its toll on Wentworth as a few of their key starters succumbed to injuries and needed to be replaced. Drexel forwards led by no. 8 Mia Escobar kept Wentworth under pressure. Drexel found the in goal twice more in the second half to defeat Wentworth 22 to 7.

Drexel’s Mia Escobar was named MVP, while Wentworth flyhalf Allie Brundgie was named the “Heart and Soul” of her club and was awarded the game ball.

A crowd of over 200 spectators, including friends and families of the players, enjoyed the action on the field and the crowning of 2 National Championships.

The NSCRO extends its appreciation to those who helped make this an excellent rugby event, including the host club, Philadelphia Women’s RFC (www.pwrfc.org), South Jersey RFC (www.southjerseyrugby.org) for use of their excellent field, the medical staff of Dr. Brian Sokalsky and ATC Kenny Rogers, and referees Terry Haas, Pete Hesler and Richard Cobb and the financial support of the East Penn RU, Met NY RFU, New York State Rugby Conference and the New England RFU.

For more information on the NSCRO, visit our website at www.nscro.org

Steve Cohen
President and Co-Founder

7 thoughts on “2009 NSCRO Women’s Collegiate Divisions 3 and 4 National Rugby Championship”

  1. Just a minor point of correction: During the MIT v. ESU game, Flyhalf Liz Umhoefer personally scored the first try of the match after freezing 3 defenders with a dummy to Ade Ogunniyi and a cut back inside. She then beat 2 more defenders to find the try zone. It was a brilliant try for the senior which really set the tone for the rest of the game.

    -Teagan Thibodeau,
    Asst. Coach MIT Women’s Rugby

    Reply

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