Rugby Ohio caps off its season in two venues this weekend with four boys finals and a girls championship.
One of the key changes in the state this year was the flexibility for the teams going to the HS National Championships to avoid having to play a semifinal on the Sunday just following the national tournament. This injection of common sense allowed St. Edward-vs-St. Xavier and St. Ignatius-vs-Moeller to be played a week before. Ed’s and Ignatius both won and will play in the Varsity final. These two will also play a JV final.
As per Rugby Ohio’s new rule, since both teams in the final are from the same city, the final will be played in that city, in this case at St. Edward’s home field in Lakewood (which is basically Cleveland).
Also to be played at that venue will be the field final, with St. Joseph’s Academy (also of Lakewood) taking on Brunswick (which is 30 minutes south).
St. Joe's vs Brunswick
Brunswick’s only league loss this year is to St. Joe’s. Led by Cadence Satow, Mariah Cleary, and try-scoring sensation Sophia Pomeroy, the Valkyries blew through the playoffs with a 60-3 win over Watkins and a 50-19 victory over Highland. Pomeroy scored five tries in that first game, and four in the second.
The Jaguars have been pretty dominant in the league play but were pushed a bit in the playoffs, winning their semifinal 36-21 over a very tough Highland side.
Head Coach Allexus Zielinski has had praise for the young players in her lineup, but what has been the keystone to the SJA effort has been defense and the breakdown.
“We have been putting emphasis on our breakdown defense and working to get a hard launch on our opponent,” Zielinski told GRR after the Midwest championships, where SJA finished 3rd. “Defensively there has been a vast improvement in the players over the course of the season.”
Kickoff is noon.
Ignatius and St. Ed's
St. Ignatius comes from winning the national single-school championship to face a St. Edward team that put together some of their best performances at Nationals, taking 5th in Tier II.
The teams will play a JV final and also a Varsity final. Is there a danger of an emotional letdown for Ignatius? Certainly there is—what does seem to be the case is that their opponents in the state final the last few years seem to be able to bring an added level of intensity for this championship game. Both teams come in having played 180 minutes of national-level rugby in the last 10 days.
