CHARLOTTE, NC – Nearly two years to the day since collegiate championships last took over the state-of-the-art Sportsplex at Matthews, 10 men’s and women’s teams of student-athletes will start to descend on North Carolina for the championship finale of 2021. With fresh teams and renewed competition, hosts College Rugby Association of America, in partnership with American Collegiate Rugby Association and American College Rugby, look ahead to an action-packed rugby Saturday with five championship matches on deck. All matches are open to spectators and streamed LIVE on The Rugby Network.
“This event is entirely about the student-athletes, those in attendance and those who aspired to attend.” Said CRAA Executive Committee member, Amy Rusert, “With the little exception, fall fifteens programs have been idle since 2019. Returning to a regular competition has been anything but regular for these student-athletes, coaches and administrators; so being able to return an iteration of this time-honored event, with the new D1A Bowl enhancement, has been a privilege for CRAA leadership.”
CRAA President, Paul Keeler added, “Championships are such memorable experiences for our student-athletes, it’s fantastic they have the opportunity to complete after such challenging times. The bowl game, which will expand next year, is more of a return to how college competitions worked previously. By Adding these bowl games, we seek to add tension and drama to our championship pathway, and more importantly we want our athletes to have events and experiences that foster their love and passion for the game.”
2021 sees a slate of new championship contenders with only four of the eight Fall Championship teams returning from the 2019 or 2018 editions. This year is ripe with exciting storylines as Ohio State University and Air Force Academy square off in the first of a Men’s D1A Bowl series, The Naval Academy Women return to the championship final after dropping the 2019 title in a low-scoring affair, Auburn’s rise to competition and Vassar College lands in Charlotte with the expectation of a 2018 repeat.
ACR/SCRC MEN’S D2 CHAMPIONSHIP | 10AM ET
Montana State University vs Auburn University
Two rising programs will clash for the first championship of the day with Montana State of the Rocky Mountain Conference taking on Auburn of the Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference. Both clubs faced similar challenges as growing collegiate rugby programs but show no shortage of passion to compete on Saturday.
“It' s been a tough season with a bunch of forfeits, but great to get playing again,” added Montana State Head Coach, Joe Williams, “It's huge for us to see our name with Auburn, Bowling Green, and Tennessee. It's tough for us to get all the money raised, plane tickets, accommodations, and rentals while going to classes and coaches working full time jobs, so here we are ready to show off our talents.”
The Bobcats have good experience going into touch matchups, having faced a few D1A and D1A B-side clubs around the Rocky Mountain region this season.
Auburn finds themselves in their first playoff berth since 2007, following a 6-game winning streak and impeccable turnaround during the COVID-19 rugby hiatus. Auburn truly flipped the script in the SEC, going from last place in 2019 (1-7 record) to conference champions (6-1-1) in 2021.
Tigers Head Coach, 23-year-old Nick Prather noted, “This opportunity, and season in general, means the world to our players, coaching staff, and alumni. This is my first year coaching ever, and a lot of work has been done by everyone involved to create this championship season. Only three of our players played for the last place teams prior to COVID-19, so I am especially happy for them to have the opportunity to experience a complete cultural shift in this program. As for everyone else, they all put their trust in me and the other coaches at the beginning of the season and the results have shown that.”
MAC/SCRC MEN’S D1 CHAMPIONSHIP | 12PM ET
Bowling Green State University v. University of Tennessee
Bowling Green and Tennessee have been on a roll this fall, with only one loss between the two of them. That being Bowling Green, in a loss at home to Notre Dame in October. The Volunteers punched their ticket to Charlotte with wins over Georgia and Clemson in the SCRC playoffs, while Bowling Green notched double-digit wins over Cincinnati and Western Michigan in the MAC bracket.
BGSU Head Coach, Tony Mazzarella noted, “We've had a very good season, and are peaking at the right time of the season and our biggest strength is being able to score from anywhere on the field. We were fortunate to be able to play some rugby in the spring but getting back to a full season and playoffs I think has been the one of the biggest motivations for both players and coaches.”
Tennessee defense will be on full display in Charlotte, as the Volunteers only twice allowed more than 20 points to their opponents and tallying three shutout wins over nine matches. This ought to be a thriller as Bowling Green brings a 358-point advantage across their 10-1 record. High-powered offense versus stout defense, the best you can ask for in championship rugby.
ACRA WOMEN’S D2 CHAMPIONSHIP | 2PM ET
Vassar College vs Temple University
As part of American Collegiate Rugby Association (ACRA), Vassar College are the Tri-State Conference Champions this Fall, compiling an 8-0 conference record including postseason competition. The team is led by captains, Kira Nolan at inside center, Number 8 Emily Howell and fullback Vivika Sheppard. Having fallen out of the semifinal in 2019, Head Coach Tony Brown looks to see his squad return to the top as title winners, last doing so the year prior in 2018.
Brown noted on the upcoming championship, “The priority, as with most teams, has been to get game time experience after the loss of Spring 2020 and the academic year in 2020-21. All the players are very appreciative of the fact that they get to participate and play the sport they love. The actions of the Vassar College senior administration and the Office of Athletics has enabled students to practice and play. Representing their college and being active in these difficult times has been a real joy.”
Vassar will face off against the Temple Owls who following a shorter season, showed positive momentum during the Women’s D2 playoffs with wins over Colorado Mesa and a 2-point thriller over Vermont. Having just missed the championship rounds in 2019, Temple comes to Charlotte with improved optimism.
CRAA MEN’S D1A BOWL GAME | 4PM ET
Ohio State University vs US Air Force Academy
With CRAA focused on developing and increasing competitions, Men’s D1A will venture into a bowl series during the fall championships going forward, with the first match up seeing Big 10 Champion Ohio State take on the Air Force Academy. Going into this first of its kind title match, the Zoomies struggled to win throughout the season. Each match brought improvement and energy as the players developed their skills and knowledge of the game. Of the 23 players on the Bowl Match roster, eight of them are in their first year of rugby.
Air Force Head Coach, Denny Merideth commented on team strengths and focuses going into Saturday, “Heart and determination capture the spirit of the players. The team will be focusing on keeping the penalty count under control. This team and players consider it an honor to compete in the Bowl Match for the Fall Classic.”
For Ohio States, this 2021 season was the first rugby opportunity for the program since November 2019. “We've graduated two classes since then, so we were a great unknown on what we would look like,” said Head Coach Tom Rooney. Ohio State’s season was a story of progression, dropping its first two games to Tennessee and Indiana, the team began to find a rhythm and follow up with eight straight wins after those losses. Most importantly, retribution over Indiana in the Big 10 Championship game, where they erased a 10-point deficit in the 33-29 win.
Rooney added, “Every week we got better, every week a new skill opportunity came into play. Our backs were good and got smoother, our forwards started to learn what they were good at. Lineouts became our best platform. It was a great fall, getting to play Notre Dame and Penn State, meeting a very solid Michigan State team and watching our players grow in their confidence. Then having one more good match with Indiana, that this time it fell our way.”
CRAA WOMEN’S D1 CHAMPIONSHIP | 6PM ET
Davenport University vs US Naval Academy
Celebrating the 25th year of Women’s Rugby at the Naval Academy, Navy find themselves back in the fall title match after falling to fellow service academy Air Force 7-5 in 2019. Knowing the high-scoring potential within college rugby, that championship match was an intense defensive battle that Navy plans to improve upon and head home with some hardware. Having held off Northeastern University in another close match during the semis, Navy will need to keep the defensive pressure as they square off with a rolling Davenport University who just put up 142 points across the quarterfinals and semifinals two weeks ago.
Navy Head Coach, Murph McCarthy added, “This has been a season of figuring out who we are and how good we can be. We had some pretty “out of the blue” success in 2019 and since then we had two senior classes graduate. Each week, somebody new or one of our lower side players of the past would step up and make a case for being a contributor on our top side. Those contributors have gotten more and more minutes. The leadership of our Captains, Sarah Skinner, and Aimee Dalsimer has been pivotal. They both excel on the pitch and in the classroom, they have been here before and knew what it would take to get here. They carved the path and got us here and they will lead us.”
McCarthy continued, “There has been a recent resurgence in alumni support surrounding the entire program at Navy but specifically from Navy Women’s Ruggers and coaches from year’s past that has been noticeable to the team. We have parents of former players at our away matches! Our moto is “Love The Legacy” and it would be something special to hand a D1 National Championship down as part of this chapter in program history in its 25th year to all that have worn the Navy Blue and Gold.”
The Davenport Panthers enter Charlotte on a hot streak, having notched two 70-point wins over University of Colorado and Utah State in Norman, OK. This rugby powerhouse was absent from the 2019 championship rounds, however similar to Navy, are after a retribution win following a championship loss to Air Force, only for them in 2018. With Air Force not in Charlotte this weekend, both teams have clear paths to hoisting the trophy.
Tickets to the Fall Classic are available now with all matched streamed LIVE on The Rugby Network.
