The Mason Dixon conference is now down to two: West Chester and North Carolina. The pair will play in tomorrow’s conference championship, and the victor will receive the automatic bye into the spring Round of 16.

“Coming in, I was worried about our game fitness and our lack of actual game time this spring,” West Chester coach Tony DeRemer said in advance of facing UVA today. “I was hoping to have three or four matches behind us, but that did not work out with the weather. But the game started off great for us, and we scored a nice team try within the first four minutes. But after that, the problems mounted.”

Erin Gallagher accounted for that try, which flyhalf Katie Walston converted. UVA then took advantage of a few critical West Chester errors, kept the pressure on, and dotted down two tries to take a 10-7 lead.

“It was a pretty tough and intense game,” DeRemer said. “With the wind chill, it was 14 degrees, so that in itself made the game a little bit more interesting. Handling was difficult, and no one looked really comfortable out there.”

All American Nicole Benedetti, who featured at outside center, came to the rescue. The senior ran in three consecutive tries – two long-range and one intercept – and Walston converted all three for the 28-10 lead at half.

At the onset of the second half, Gallagher dotted down the Golden Rams’ final try (35-10), “but the second half was all UVA,” DeRemer said. “They became even more physical around the field and started mounting a sustained attack, even against the tough wind. Although we had the wind at our backs, we were unable to get a good kick away to relieve pressure. UVA did a great job of keeping the pressure on and making us make mistakes.”

UVA scored two more tries and had 11 more minutes with which to work. But West Chester stood firm and the game ended 35-20.

“It really was a back-and-forth game, and both teams had chances to win it,” DeRemer said. “Both teams played strongly in spurts, and neither team really played well the whole match.”

West Chester will face North Carolina in tomorrow’s conference championship. The Tar Heels defeated Virginia Tech 54-26, with Naya Tapper leading the way with four tries. Wing Nicole Davis contributed two scores, while Cam Gunn handled the extras.