Stonehill College is heading to the ACRA 7s Championship, having won the Rugby Northeast 7s title last weekend. The tournament host went 6-0 on the day, outscoring opponents 149-47. Stonehill can now turn its attention to returning to the DII ACRA 7s final.

“We finished second last year to Notre Dame College, so we are really looking forward to getting back there again,” Stonehill College coach Derek Jenesky said. “It was one of the things we were focusing on this summer and why I tried to schedule so many tournaments. I think it has paid off because we are really looking pretty good at the moment.”

During pool play, Stonehill handled Providence, Roger Williams, and Holy Cross, but Merrimack gave a scare in a 19-17 decision. Stonehill beat Holy Cross 26-10 in the Cup semifinals, and turned it on in the second half against St. Anselm’s during the title bout, which went Stonehill’s way 24-10.

“Sarah Buonopane was hands-down the MVP,” Jenesky said of the always reliable senior.

Buonopane slotted 10 of 16 conversion attempts and combined for 20 tries with freshman flyer AJ Luther. Jillian Spinney, Olivia Wallace, and Kayla Solis also contributed five-pointers. Buonopane, Luther, Ashley Mott and Amanda Montanari were all named to the all-conference 7s team.

The 12-player squad fields six freshmen, so the next few weeks will be used to get those underclassmen championship ready. The ACRA 7s Championship, which hosts a DI and DII bracket, will occur on May 2-3 at West Point, N.Y. This tournament is not related to USA Rugby’s national 7s championship, which occurs on May 23-24 in Denver.