College Women
Virginia Women’s Rugby (UVA) deserves a spot in the spring Round of 16; the question is where they figure in. After a very successful fall, UVA started 2015 with a slim loss to North Carolina – a defeat that cost them the South #1 seed at the Mason Dixon playoffs and forged a tougher road to the conference final.
The South Independent conference (SIRC) was waiting on one game before locking down the DI and DII women’s college title-seekers: Lee University vs. Georgia. The former is the traditional power in the region, making several appearances at DII nationals and sending players into the age grade pools. The latter was a DI team until this season.
The Mason Dixon quarterfinals didn’t unfold as predictably as assumed – the hallmark of an interesting post-season. On one end, North Carolina posted a shocking 153 points on Maryland; and on the other end, semifinals’ host James Madison dropped a big game to Virginia Tech.
Norwich returned to the pitch yesterday, traveling south to Loudonville, N.Y., for Siena College’s PatRUCK’s 7s tournament. In their first outing of the season, the Cadets went 4-0, outscoring opponents 107-10.
The last time Lindenwood was on the pitch, the Lady Lions were healing from a Round of 8 national playoff against Penn State, the eventual DI fall champion.