The Mid-Atlantic Region is joining the Northeast at Vassar College next weekend for the women’s DII college fall quarterfinals. The Rutgers vs. Stonehill Round of 32 match occurred Sunday, naming the fourth Mid-Atlantic representative to advance to the Round of 16. Read more for the Northeast teams.

Rutgers continued to work its depth as it defeated Stonehill College 31-24 yesterday in New Jersey. That sets up what should be a great game in the Round of 16 against Bloomsburg. The MARC champion opened up against Grand Valley State on Saturday, beating the at-large team from the Great Lakes conference 78-5.

“It was a team win,” Bloomsburg coach Kevin Castner commended. “They were able to deal with the blustery cold and windy weather on top of a very aggressive Grand Valley team that did not stop from start of the match until the end. The performance of the defense continues to improve with each week as we continue to build on the lessons through the season. Overall we are looking to keep moving forward as we move into the next round.”

Nikki Snyder recorded a whopping seven tries, while Meg Reilly added two, and Jade Hensinger, Selena Fernandez, and Summer Cooke scored a try apiece. Kelly Mason kicked eight conversions.

There was a bit more drama on the other side of the bracket, as Upstate New York champion Ithaca College just held off Tri-State #3 Albany 24-19.

The hosts accounted for the first three tries of the match, as the forwards produced a corner score, Jacquelyn Reyes followed, and scrumhalf Rachel Karlins dotted down. Katie Conmy’s two conversions gave the Renegades a 19-0 lead before Albany started answering back.

The game sat at 19-12 until the final five minutes of play, when the teams traded tries once more – Ithaca’s came from Noelle Carbone – for the 24-19 win to the Renegades.

“It was a competitive game,” Karlins reported. “Albany came out strong; they hit hard and ran hard. We didn't capitalize on their mistakes as well as we should have. We also made some mistakes that made it closer than it should have been. We were happy with our team performance and know there's a lot of room for improvement for the upcoming weekend.”

Ithaca will play Saint Michael’s this Saturday in the Round of 16. The Purple Knights defeated New England Small College runner-up Smith 36-17 during a cold day on the pitch.

It took some time for the Rugby Northeast champion to determine the right plan of attack against Smith, which liked to play a tight game with its forwards.

“It was hard to get the ball back from them once they had it,” Saint Michael’s coach Charles Cisco informed. “We were able to capitalize with our fast backs and continuity play, finding holes from the constant overloads. A very strong defense by Smith prevented us from putting more points on the board.”

The teams scored two tries apiece in the first half, but when Saint Michael’s convened during the break, the team had sorted out the right combination of forward and back play to turn the game into a win. The second 40 saw the Purple Knights put the ball into the backs’ hands more often, and two quick tries in the third and sixth minutes resulted. Fresh legs joined the pitch and added scores in the 28^th and 37^th minutes, and Smith rounded out the day with a try at the 40^th.

All told, Saint Michael’s backs scored four tries and the forwards two.

The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions will both compete at Vassar College next weekend, but they will compete alongside each other, not against each other. The Midwest pool will be in Pittsburgh, and the Rocky Mountain Region will contest Round of 16 matches at Colorado Springs. For the full DII brackets, click here.