Cincinnati is only four years old as a program, and the team is hoping to progress farther into the DII fall championship than it did last year. In 2014, UC’s run ended in the Round of 16 against a very strong Ithaca College, but the team has picked up some lessons since then, and readies for the Midwest regionals this weekend in Pittsburgh.

Cincinnati returned 11-12 starters from last year’s team and inducted freshmen who are out-performing the recent graduates in their respective positions. The first big test came in the regular season against Eastern Kentucky in a preview of the Ohio Valley conference championship. EKU overcame a double-digit deficit in the final quarter of the match to win 37-34.

“They were disappointed when we lost that first game by three points, but I wanted them to work it out on their own why we lost,” said Cincinnati coach and founder and Nick Geary. “They realized they didn’t want it as much as Eastern Kentucky, and their fitness wasn’t there. I didn’t particularly do anything except reinforce what they already knew. They internalized it themselves – and seeing that, that’s one of the best parts of being a coach.”

UC gauged its progress in the conference final. Additionally, Geary addressed some tactical issues that also swayed the teams’ first meeting.

“Eastern Kentucky has a good center partnership,” Geary spoke to the adjustments made for the rematch in the conference final. “Inside center Chelsey Cobler is the captain and a senior, so I’ve seen her play for 2-3 years now. She and the outside center scored a lot of tries in the first game, with Chelsey making strong diagonal runs away from the pack to the outside. If we managed to tackle her, she got the ball off to her outside center, who wasn’t as skillful but had plenty of pace. They beat us a lot on that combo. So we worked on tackling, and the backs coming up stronger and faster when the ball was out to close down space.”

Geary was also fortunate to have his starting outside center, freshman Natalie Crockett, back on the pitch. She’s a strong tackler and combatted the opposition backs well. With the defense fortified, UC was able to play its style of rugby better.

“We like to play a very fast, entertaining style,” Geary explained. “Some teams, they play crash-and-bang. Ball comes out the back of the ruck, they give it to someone big, and want that person to plow down either lane. We try to play more open – out to the back as much as possible, spin down the line and run. Get to the ruck faster than the opposition, win that ruck, and spin to the backs again.”

Leading in the way of work rate are captains Casey Carver at scrumhalf and Abby Militello at lock.

“Casey is small, but she is scrappy, and she is always on the ball,” Geary praised. “She’s a standout scrumhalf, and organizes the backs.

“Abby is very quiet,” Geary said of the big lock. “She rarely talks but leads by example. When she enters a ruck, you know it. When we practice, I’ll lock against them and know straight away when she comes in – so much power.”

Also influential are freshman hooker Hailey Tippett, who is very fast and has good, developing technique; and senior center Katy Yoder, a small, solid ballcarrier who is tough to tackle and leads the team in tries scores.

They all came together to beat EKU in the final and got that final boost of confidence heading into the fall championships.

“When we beat Eastern Kentucky, I’ve never seen them so happy,” Geary said.

The Ohio Valley champion drew Great Waters #3 UW La Crosse in the Round of 32 last weekend. They had little intel on each other, but the players dove into online research.

“It’s like when there’s something wrong with your health and you start Googling symptoms,” Geary reflected on the team’s fixation on the opposition. “You can convince yourself you have 17 different cancers. They found out that La Crosse had a really good U23 player, and coming out of Wisconsin assumed they were going to be big and tough. They psyched themselves out a bit.”

Those nerves showed themselves during the first quarter of Saturday’s game. La Crosse used muscle in the fringe and with its inside backs, and tested Cincinnati’s resolve in the tackle.

It was close at half, but UC’s adrenaline was flowing and the intimidation had subsided.

“When folks relaxed and played our game, we just started to win the phases,” Geary said. “We contested the scrum, the lineout, and got to the ruck faster than the opposition on the back of open rugby.”

With 20 minutes to go, Cincinnati led by 30+ points and the bench emptied. UC went on to win 41-13 and returns to the Round of 16 to face Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). The Allegheny champ defeated Great Lakes #2 Ferris State 25-19 in its playoff opener. Should Cincinnati defeat IUP on Saturday, then it will face the winner of Davenport vs. Eastern Kentucky in Sunday's quarterfinals.

“Last year, everyone was just amazed that we got here, and we played teams who were used to getting there,” Geary remembered the Ithaca knockout. “We can defeat ourselves by being over-awed by the situation. This week, we’re going to talk about mental preparation and not defeat ourselves before the kickoff. We don’t know our opponent, so there’s nothing we can do about tactics. And this isn’t the time to be learning new things. So the goal is to keep working on the things we already know and to do them well.”

For the full DII fall championship bracket, click here.