Women's CRC Preview

Sixteen women's college teams descend on Chester, Pa. for the Women's CRC.

(See scores, standings, and notes here)

The teams work very hard to get to this tournament it asks a lot of them - to commit to sell tickets to the main stadium CRC event when the teams themselves spend most of the three-day event on the Academy fields outside Talen Energy Stadium. But the teams make the effort, and the competition itself should be interesting.

Life University, which won the USA Rugby National Championships last weekend, bounce back to try to make it two in a row.

"The women stepped up to the challenge and really played some excellent defense," said Head Coach Rosalind Chou. "With the wet conditions we knew that it would slow us down a bit and we had to rely on closer support. The whole group, all 15 athletes, our trainer, Coach Jake McFadden, and our supporters have really lifted us each game."

Chou herself did an outstanding job getting the team ready. 

Lindenwood took second at Nationals, and also the Lions, led by the excellent McKenzie Hawkins, rebound to play in Chester. the #3 team from Nationals, Penn State, is also in Chester. We will see if doubling up on two three-day tournaments is workable for these teams; we suspect they might struggle on Day Three. By then it will have been six days of intense competition over the last ten days. 

Other teams to watch - NSCRO Select Side. You never know with select sides, but if they've had enough time, they could do something special. US Naval Academy - they weren't in Cary but they will bring an aggressive approach that saw them win the Princeton 7s tournament. 

Look for Penn State to win Pool A, albeit being pushed by NSCRO, Delaware, and Rutgers. Life heads up Pool B, with Temple, Michigan, and Notre Dame duking it out for for 2nd. Navy might be favored in Pool C, with Bloomsburg possibly the best of the other three, which includes Boston University and Princeton. But since Princeton finished 2nd in the Penn State 7s, they are certainly a serious contender, also.

In Pool D, Lindenwood leads a very interesting quartet that includes Arizona, Kutztown, and Ohio State. While KU and Arizona are top men's 7s teams, in the women's game they have some work to do. Ohio State should pose a stiff challenge here, as they have in the past, but Lindenwood's overall pace and skill should see them through.

So it seems it will be down to those four - Life, Penn State, Lindenwood, and Navy. But the stress of playing so much might open the door for another, especially as the quarterfinals are held on Saturday afternoon, when the fatigue really starts piling up. That's where we'll see the upsets.