Life Women Edge Central Washington
Life Women Edge Central Washington
Life University came back to edge Central Washington in Women's D1 Elite action Saturday.
Playing on Senior Day, the Wildcats took a 10-7 lead into halftime thanks to tries by Maleena Mero and Malia Ili.
Life's Brooklyn Vaifanua collected a Life chip kick and raced in to open the scoring before CWU came back to lead at the break.
With their tails up. CWU put Lilly Thomas through for their third try and a 15-7 lead. But as the Running Eagles made some adjustments they started to come back.
A Life maul turned was touched down by Elizabeth Gijon to bring her side within a score at 15-12. And with only 10 minutes left Amaya Moala bulled over to make it 17-15; Matilda Kocaj's conversion made it 19-15.
Life held on from there.
"This was a highly competitive match with both sides giving it everything," said Life Head Coach Ryszard Chadwick. "Central Washington dominated the set piece in the first half and our discipline allowed them to get into the game."
"As far as collegiate rugby games, that's about as close as it gets," added Central Washington Head Coach matthew Ramirez. "We came out on the wrong side of the scoreline today, but we know what needs to be fixed, and how we're going to do it. One positive is that we'll get to face them again in the D1 Elite Semifinals in two weeks, and we're excited about the opportunity."
Indeed they will.
| D1 Elite | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | Pts |
| Lindenwoood | 2 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 29 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Life | 2 | 1 | 0 | 86 | 39 | 47 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Central Washington | 1 | 2 | 0 | 93 | 64 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Penn State | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 116 | -104 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
While not all of the teams play everyone else, it seems pretty clear that Life and CWU will be the #2 and #3 seeds.
Life plays Lindenwood next week, but regardless, the playoffs will be November 19 and the final on December 3.
