The National Collegiate Women’s Varsity Rugby Association (NCWVRA) inaugurated its first-ever playoffs last weekend, and the quarterfinal victors will now convene at Brown University for the final four on Friday, Nov. 20 and Sunday, Nov. 22.

The Ivy League lost its three representatives in the first round, including championship host Brown. The Bears welcomed American International College on Saturday, and Brown held the lead into the break. But a 17-point scoring spree put AIC up for good and the Yellow Jackets won 27-19.

The sides scored two tries apiece in the first half. AIC puts its high-scorer, freshman Anne-Laurence Harvey, into the try zone first, and then Brown answered with its high-scorer, Saskia Morgan, to tie it up.

AIC junior Domo Cammock and Brown junior Lauren Oxendine exchanged tries, but a Bear conversion gave the hosts a 12-10 lead into the break.

The third quarter determined the outcome of the game, as AIC put Harvey, Shamira Robles, and Anna Mbengam into the try zone. Trailing by 15 points at the 70-minute mark, Brown mustered one more try through Morgan for the 27-19 finish.

AIC will now face Army in the varsity semifinals. The teams have played each other twice this fall, with both games going to the Cadets, but a total of only five points have separated them.

The West Pointers advanced to the semifinals after defeating Harvard 58-21 on Saturday, a day after the team beat Navy 62-15 at Anderson Rugby Complex.

The two-time AAA Athlete of the Week, Nicole Heavirland, and former title-holder Lindy Clark scored a hat trick apiece, and the former added 11 points off the boot. Becca Stipp, Zye Crittington, Chioma Odocha, and Tranelle Patterson also scored tries.

Harvard’s scores came from Hope Schwartz, Haley Langan, and Genevieve Quiron, and Susie Clements added three conversions.

"Overall we had an okay performance, to be fair," head coach Bill LeClerc told Army West Point Athletics. "We had some sort of silly mistakes that ended up costing us extra points and opportunities. You can look at the score and say that's a good game but then you have to look at how we took advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves and how we responded to some pressure. To be fair, we were a bit lacking in some of those areas."

While the score disguised some underlying issues with Army, it detailed the difference between Quinnipiac and West Chester on Saturday. It was the second match between the teams in two weeks, and the Bobcats triumphed 84-7 to advance to the semifinals.

The Connecticut school saw nine different players score, and Ilona Maher’s hat trick pushed her team-leading tally to 38 this fall. Rebecca Haight, and Tayler Schussler, and Raechel Stimson scored a brace apiece, and Maggie Myles, Emily Roskopf, Autumn Martin, Flora Poole, and Mason Johnson also dotted down.

Quinnipiac now lines up against Norwich for the varsity semifinals. The Cadets prevailed over Dartmouth in Saturday’s quarterfinal, beating the Big Green 14-7 in Hanover, N.H.

Norwich contained its scoring to within three minutes, as sophomore back-three Frankie Sands dotted down in minute 29, and senior center Ally Day scored in minute 31. Alanna Giradin and Sheila Decker added the conversions for a 14-0 halftime lead.

There the scoreline stood until the 81^st minute of play, when Dartmouth flanker Erika Cabrera scored and Camille Johnson converted.

“We obviously didn’t get the result we wanted today,” Dartmouth head coach Katie Dowty told DartmouthSports.com. “When we played together we controlled the flow of play, but Norwich capitalized on a couple of lapses.”

The varsity semifinals will be live-streamed (all times EST):

Friday, Nov. 20
11:00 a.m. AIC vs. Army
1:00 p.m. Quinnipiac vs. Norwich

Sunday, Nov. 22
1:00 p.m. Championship