It was crossover weekend for the Northeast DI women’s colleges, which produced one thing: big scores. These games do not impact standings, and good thing, because Norwich, Army and American International College outscored their opponents by a combined 348-5. Norwich accounted for almost half of those points, and rather than focus on the match as a whole, let’s look at one of the Cadets’ up-and-comers.

During Norwich’s 153-0 win over Rhode Island, freshmen Ilona Maher and Denisse Zambon scored five tries apiece. Over the course of the season, the duo have combined for 18 tries. Wing Zambon picked up the game in the Bronx under the tutelage of now-Lindenwood coach Billy Nicholas. Burlington, Vt., native Maher has less experience and is playing in her second season of rugby ever.

Maher distinguished herself during the team’s Penn State game, which was the 18-year-old’s first collegiate game.

“I didn’t really know about their reputation, but I heard the locker room talk,” Maher said of playing the DI national champion. “That was a really hard game for me. It was my first game at prop, and there was a lot of pressure.

“We know we can beat them,” the freshman continued. “We stuck with them, just fell apart at the end. We had only been practicing for two weeks and had a lot of freshmen on the field.”

Maher had grown up around rugby, thanks to her dad who still referees, but never played. But after her senior field hockey and basketball seasons at Burlington High School, the 5’10” athlete forewent her fourth year on the softball team for something more exciting.

She broke in at second row and flanker, and had the help of Women Junior All American and junior Olympian Haley Langan along the way. One league opponent included Essex High School, the former coach of which is Austin Hall. The Norwich coach introduced himself.

“I was going to go to UVM because it’s so close to home, but the rugby team wasn’t as serious as I would have liked,” Maher said of her initial college aspirations. “I made the late switch to Norwich, and I love the small-school environment.”

But before booting up for the Cadets, Maher competed with the Vermont U19s, played well at the all-star tournament, and was shipped to Colorado for the Stars & Stripes assembly with 50 of the country’s best high school players.

“That was hard,” Maher reflected on the camp. “I’m still picking up the game, and the players at the All American camp had so much more experience than me. They just knew so much more.”

But Maher’s natural abilities shown through and she was selected to the 15-player High School All American team.

“I like using my speed and strength to push through people,” Maher said. “I’m still working on my skills and finesse, but my height and build help me out.

“I definitely need more work on my tackling,” Maher added. “I have to move my feet instead of grabbing players with my hands.”

Maher has plenty of role models on the Norwich squad and looks to fellow prop Riley Blankenship for guidance – so much so that teammates call them twins. She also draws inspiration from captains Emily Oor and Vanessa Champagne, and flyhalf Hannah Bell. It’s role models like these who influence Maher’s immediate rugby goals.

“I definitely want to defend the ACRA title for our upperclassmen,” Maher said. “They work so hard, and I don’t want to let them down.”

Norwich is in good shape to get back to that title match, and if Maher continues on this trajectory, then she can chase those longer-term goals on playing at the national age-grade level.