USA Rugby National Guard College Playoffs-UCF Women and USF Men

Both UCF women and USF men represented Florida with real credit at the weekend.UCF women lost their opener but won the consolation game Sunday while  USF made it through Saturday with a convincing win over North Colorado before going down bravely and with great sprit to a Middlebury team that had won national D2  previously. Congratulations to both teams who both reminded everyone that we are no longer a push over.

For Immediate Release
April 19, 2009

Remaining Teams Qualify for USA Rugby National Guard College Championships

SANFORD, Fla. – The field of 64 has officially been narrowed down to 16 teams following the three days of competition this weekend at the USA Rugby National Guard College Playoffs.

The top four competitors in each division – Men’s and Women’s DI and DII – will now advance to the USA Rugby National Guard College Championships held on May 1-2 at Stanford University.

In Women’s Division I, Stanford University and Navy will join Penn State and Brown, while first-time DII Women’s playoffs contenders Stonehill and Washington State are set to meet Delaware and Shippensberg, respectively.

In Men’s Division I, California will face off against Army in Stanford, while BYU will meet San Diego State University in the semifinals.

In the Men’s Division II, Wisconsin earned its spot in the semis versus Miami-Ohio and Middlebury will meet Georgetown.

Here’s a recap of the last day of competition:

Men’s Division I
At Life University, Army met Penn State University in a battle to the whistle that saw one team’s Championship hopes dashed.

Although Penn State led 12-5 at half, a win just wasn’t in their cards as Army overtook the Nittany Lions in the second half. Penn State would get a try at the end of regulation to put them within a point at 20-19, but their kick at goal would go just wide with no time left on the clock and Army would walk away victors, earning their sport at the National Championships in May.

On the other side of the country, the Golden Bears punched their ticket to the national semifinals with a convincing 76-10 victory over Cal Poly in the Round of 8 on Witter Rugby Field.

California scored 11 tries for the second straight match, with James Bailes notching a hat trick from fullback and scrumhalf Dustin Muhn scoring a pair.

The Bears will face Army, on May 1 at Stanford.

With two weeks to prepare, Cal gets back to work this week fully understanding a service-academy side awaits the Bears in the semis. “Army beat good teams so they’re going to be tough,” said lock Eric Fry.

Cal Poly ended its season with heads held high, said head coach Nick

Massman: “We’re graduating a few kids but we’ve got some behind them that I wanted to get some experience. It’s a bitter pill initially but I think it serves them better down the track. I’m proud the boys, they didn’t quit, that’s for sure.”

In other playoff action, Air Force ended its season on a high note with its 29-12 Pool A consolation win over Minnesota, while Saint Mary’s won its Pool D consolation contest over Tennessee, 20-15.

Sunday’s results:

Berkeley, Calif.

California 76, Cal Poly 10 (semifinal qualifier)

Air Force 29, Minnesota 12 (consolation)

Marietta, Ga.

Army 20, Penn State 19 (semifinal qualifier)
Saint Mary’s 20, Tennessee 15 (consolation)

Women’s Division I
When the remainder of the Women’s DI competition got underway on Sunday morning, Navy muscled its way past Chico State to reclaim its position in the semifinals. Chico State hung close in the first half, but following the break Navy capitalized on penalties and put in two tries to Chico’s one, to muscle ahead 32-12.

Defending champions Stanford also secured a chance to reclaim their title, after knocking out Army 29-15 in a tough match. The team will next meet Brown in the semis in two weeks and knows there are adjustments to make.

“I was pleased with our set piece today – our forwards set a great platform for us. However, we didn’t exploit the opportunities we were given and gave Army too much time in open space, which definitely something we will need to work on as we prepare for the semifinals,” Stanford Head Coach Jonathan Griffin.

In a thrilling sudden death overtime finish, UCLA defeated West Chester 22-17 in the consolation match-up, while New Mexico handled Indiana 55-10.

Sunday’s Results:
New Mexico 55, Indiana 10 (consolation)
Navy 32, Chico State 12 (semifinal qualifier)
UCLA 22, West Chester 17(OT) (consolation)
Stanford 29, Army 15 (semifinal qualifier)

Women’s Division II
Stonehill College capped off their first season in Division II competition on a high note, qualifying for the semifinals with a dominating 64-8 victory over 2008 runners up Minnesota-Duluth. After leading 29-8 at the half, Stonehill turned in a true team performance and dotted down five more tries in the second half. The team will meet Delaware at Stanford on May 1.

“Our team played excellent defense and both our forwards and backs made huge tackles all day. From what I’ve seen of Delaware, they are a solid team, but if we play the way we know we can, we’ll be successful,” Stonehill Head Coach Derek Jenesky said following the big win.

Also moving on to their first Championships showing is Washington State, which held off a late surge from East Carolina to win its semifinal qualifying match 26-20. Washington State will face the reigning Women’s DII champions from Pennsylvania’s Shippensburg.

Sunday’s Results:
La Salle 41, Arizona 17 (consolation)
Washington State 26, East Carolina 20 (semifinal qualifier)
Claremont 15, Sacramento State 5 (consolation)
Stonehill 64, Minnesota-Duluth 8 (semifinal qualifier)

Men’s Division II
No. 16 seed Wisconsin capped off its cinderella playoffs run with a 23-11 over No. 8 seed Arizona State. UW wing Garett Donath, who scored the team’s gaming winning try versus Salisbury also came up big in the team’s semifinal qualifier, putting Wisconsin on the board within the first six minutes of the game and dotting one down again in the second half.

Wisconsin (Midwest No. 2) now moves on to meet fellow Midwest No. 1 seed Miami-Ohio in the semifinals – and hopes this match has a better outcome than their Midwest qualifying match.

“We’re really looking forward to a rematch and a chance to redeem ourselves. Miami-Ohio is a strong team all around, so we know it will be tough trying to exploit any weaknesses,” said Skip Heffernan of his team’s semifinal qualification, its first trip to the Championships since 1992.

The 2007 Men’s DII champions Middlebury also secured a spot in the playoffs with a win over South Florida. In the aggressive match, both teams were excellent at the breakdown and fought hard until the very end. After leading by a narrow margin for most of the game, Middlebury found its footing in the second half, pulling away to an eventual 32-17 final score.

Middlebury will face Georgetown in the semifinals on May 1.

Sunday Results:
Utah Valley State 26, Salisbury 20 (consolation)
Wisconsin 23, Arizona State 11 (semifinal qualifier)
Humboldt State 19, Colorado School of Mines 13 (consolation)
Middlebury 32, South Florida 17 (semifinal qualifier)

This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 9:45 pm and is filed under College Men, Collegiate Women, High School, Men, Women. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.