#9 Ranked Women’s Rugby advances to Elite 8 with victory over Winona State (Minn)
#9 Ranked Women’s Rugby advances to Elite 8 with victory over Winona State (Minn)
Playing in the searing Florida sun the 6th seeded Women’s Rugby team willed their way to a 35-7 victory and a spot in the final 8 tomorrow against #14 seeded University of North Carolina Charlotte. “This team worked harder this spring than any other team I’ve coached,” commented Asst Coach Joe Simonson after the game, “and they put it to good use today.”
After a slow start, the ladies got on the board first when senior Ashley George dove over from 1 meter out for a 5-0 lead with 11 minutes gone. Freshman Shannon Etherson scored next, catching a pass from Senior Olivia Gorab to score her first career try. Senior Katie O’Malley’s long run down the sideline made the score 15-0, as the ladies would score 4 tries in a 15-minute span. Junior Fiona Lunney finished the run with a score off of a perfectly rucked ball and the Purple and Black went into the halftime break up 20-0.
Senior Laura Fischer scored 13 minutes into the second half, taking a quick tap on a penalty and beating the defense to the try-line from 5 meters away. George would break through the Winona defense 8 minutes later and race down the sideline for a 40-meter try. After a try cut the lead to 30-7, O’Malley finished the scoring with 8 minutes to go, grabbing a kick inside the defense’s 22 meter line and weaving her way through the disheartened Winona team.
“They won today with pure will and determination,” added Simonson “When it was hot and the game was hard, they just pushed through. It was inspiring to see how hard they played.”
Stonehill plays next tomorrow morning against UNCC at 11 am with the winner advancing to the Final Four in Pittsburgh , PA on the weekend of April 30th to May 1st.