College Women
This weekend, many of the country’s top teams will be competing in the USA Rugby Women’s DI College Fall Championship, hosted by ACRA. The Round of 16 kicks off Saturday and will culminate in a Dec. 7 final. The fall champion will advance to the title match on May 9 and play the winner of the Spring Championship, which begins in April.
New Mexico is proof that, any given day, any team can win. The Lobos nearly saw its 30-29 win over Mountain West power Women’s Cougar Rugby slip away in the final moments of the game, when BYU lined up a 22-meter penalty. But the rugby gods blew the wind in the host’s favor, and New Mexico won its second consecutive league title.
A 2-0 weekend saw Arkansas unseat reigning champion Nebraska for the Mid-America title. The Razorbacks continue their playoff run with automatic entry into this weekend’s national Round of 16 at Northern Iowa, the West regional sight for the USA Rugby Women’s DII College Fall Championship, hosted by ACRA.
While there is still plenty of opening-round playoff games to review, there’s one Round of 16 game that is building too much hype to ignore: Notre Dame College vs. Davenport. The Midwest sides combined for 232 points on Saturday, and didn’t surrender a point-against during the USA Rugby Women’s DII College Fall Championship, hosted by ACRA, Round of 32.
One of the more interesting games to occur this weekend involved DI playoff-bound Quinnipiac – although all of the Bobcats’ games this season have been interesting. As an independent, the Bobcats have had the freedom to play anyone, anywhere.