USA College Rugby

Penn State and Norwich University claimed the Women’s DI and DII College National Championships, respectively, on Saturday (May 12) at Steuber Rugby Stadium on the campus of Stanford University.

Penn State beat the hosts Stanford 32-12 to claim yet another National Championship.  USA Women’s National Team star, Sadie Anderson, led the way for the Nittany Lions scoring a brace in the final and was complemented by Kasey Ferlic who also had two tries. 

The first half was a back-and-forth affair and the first points the home crowd was treated to came in the 24^th minute when Olabisi Ibrahim crossed for the Cardinal.  It took all of three minutes for Anderson to respond.   An answer by Stanford and another reply by Penn State brought the crowd to an absolute fever pitch.  It was Stanford that went into half time with the lead though as Jamie Lawrence crossed for the hosts and Alyson Gleason converted.

The last points Stanford would score would be in the first half and the second period was all Penn State.  Anderson and Ferlic combined for two more scores and Christiane Phiel crossed with five minutes to go to really put the game out of reach for Stanford.

On the DII side, Norwich University pounded Winona State 82-12 in the National Championship game.  Averaging a try per minute, Norwich, a varsity rugby program, was an absolute attacking powerhouse.  With the DII title, Norwich has won two National Championships in the last six months, winning the first-ever USA Rugby College Sevens National Championship in December 2011.

Women’s DI College National Championship

Penn State 32

Tries: Anderson (2), Ferlic (2), Pheil,

Cons: Anderson

Stanford 12

Tries: Ibrahim, Lawrence

Cons: Gleason

Women’s DII College National Championship

Norwich 82

Tries: Bushey, Clark(2), Annis (2) Vogt, Oor (2), Bernheim(2), Dwyer, Champagne (2)

Cons: Baugus (5), Clark

Drop Goal: Baugus

Winona State 12

Tries: Porter, Zimmer

Cons: Curran