Colgate and Vermont are poised to meet each other in the first round of the USA Rugby Women DII College Fall Championship, hosted by ACRA. The teams contrast with each other – and that will become apparent on Saturday as they indulge different playing styles – but also share a similar story in terms of the new teams they’ve crafted this fall.

Both sides have enjoyed varying levels of success, and previous to this season, it was a core of very experienced seniors who carried the teams. When those players graduated last spring, both squads embraced change and looked to disperse responsibility more evenly throughout the roster.

“Last year, we relied heavily on our four seniors to make most of the plays and score, which they did quite well,” Colgate coach Anne-Marie Lemal Brown said. “We have just five seniors on our team this season, the majority of our players being sophomores. I have tried to give them as much rugby experience as possible since they began the sport last season, and it has clearly paid off.”

Colgate went undefeated in a competitive Excelsior conference, which has grown in strength this year, according to Lemal Brown. Two early wins against rivals Hamilton and RPI allowed players like freshman Maggie Nelson – who replaced last year’s leading try-scorer, graduate Catherine Strecyk – to step into scrumhalf, learn under pressure, and evolve into a cool decision-maker. Sophomore No. 8 Ciara Pettinos, senior flanker Vica Fontana and sophomore tight five Meg Pane are power forwards who run like backs. Sophomore wing Aurelia Cassarubias and junior inside center Alex Maulden highlight the backline and team up well in the kick-and-chase; while senior captain Jen Godbout manages the team well from fullback.

Vermont heaped its pressure on seniors, too, and consequently isn’t the seasoned team it was last year.

“But that just forced us to change the way we played the game,” UVM captain Danielle Marini said. “Last year and in seasons past, we have relied so heavily on individual players to carry our team along. With losing those players, it forced us to change up our game and rethink the way we play rugby. Every single player on that field contributes to every try we score, every ruck we destroy, and every game we win. We certainly have players who do a lot of our scoring, those being Sarah Weiss, Lizzie Ambros, Amber Lampiris-Tremba and Zoe Kreinberg. But without the drive from our entire team, we would not have made it to the playoffs.”

Vermont enjoyed an undefeated 6-0 season in the New England Wide conference, finishing second to Coast Guard in the standings. But UVM took top honors in the head-to-head, beating USCGA 14-5 during the regular season.

“It proved that we are relentless,” Marini examined the lessons learned from that match. “It proved that no matter what our starting lineup is, we know how to work as a team, we know how to flow with the game, and we know how to stick our ground. For that game, we ended up not having four of our starting players, and we all were certainly concerned about that going into it. It was a tough game, one of the toughest and most exciting games that I’ve played in my four years, but we worked hard and deserved the win we got.”

Colgate picked up some vital lessons during a couple of close games, as well.

“We have a different style of play than most of the teams in our league,” Lemal Brown said. “Our women are small and fast – all of them – while most of the teams we play tend to be much larger and more forward-centric. We are basically a sevens squad playing 15s.”

Their style of play was brought under fire against Cortland and resulted in a tense 14-10 victory.

“The Cortland match was played in the pouring rain, allowing their style of play to have an advantage,” Lemal Brown explained. “They are a rucking and mauling team, which was much easier to do than run on the slick, muddy pitch.  We won that game on the strength of our kicking and our tackling skills on defense. “

Colgate learned a mental lesson when it played another tough match against Oneonta. That 29-22 victory came after an unexpected three-week break that threw everyone off of their game.

Both teams enter this weekend’s match – which will be contested at Colgate University – in a well rounded state and with a lot of confidence. The victor will face the winner of Vassar vs. Buffalo State in the Round of 16 on Nov. 15, hosted at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

For the full DII brackets, click here.