College Women
(submitted by Stanford Rugby) Stanford defeated a fast, physical, and athletic UC Davis for the second time this season, extending their Pacific Mountain Conference (PMC) West record to 4-0. In the first encounter, Stanford staged a late come-back to overcome the Aggies.
South Independent leader Life University had cruised through its first two matrix matches and was looking toward Central Florida, the region’s traditional powerhouse, to provide some resistance in week three. UCF then dropped a 41-17 game to Georgia Tech on Feb. 15, but there was a cushion of forgiveness since that loss occurred on the second day of a double-header weekend.
The Pacific Mountain West is a strong, albeit small, women’s DI college conference, and this season has provided a bevy of thrilling matches. Not even Stanford, the perennial league champion, has been exempt from near-losses and could easily be 2-2 right now instead of 4-0. But when the ball bounces in one team’s direction, it bounces away from another, and that’s where Cal has found itself.
Humboldt entered its toughest league match under less-than-ideal circumstances. A month into the West Coast DII season, the reigning champion had yet to play a game due to cancellations and forfeits. Saturday opponent UN Reno, however, already had three wins to its credit.
Women’s Cougar Rugby (BYU) has been a faithful attendee to the Las Vegas Invitational since its inception, mostly because competition is limited in Utah and the team has 15s playoffs for which to prepare. BYU is also pretty good at 7s, despite the first side’s early exit from the competition.