QU Women's Rugby Faces Army in National Championship on Sunday at Brown

Sunday, November 22

Providence, R.I. / Marvel Field

1:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Army West Point

QU Women's Rugby Faces Army in National Championship on Sunday at Brown

11/21/2015 12:41:00 PM | Women's Rugby

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac Bobcats (10-2, 6-1 NCVWRA) vs.
Army Black Knights (9-4, 5-1 NCVWRA)
Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015 - 1 PM
Marvel Field – Providence, R.I.
All-Time Against the Black Knights: 3-2
Last Meeting: Oct. 31, 2015 (W, 20-12)

ON A MISSION
On Sunday, November 22, the Bobcats will take on Army West Point in the first ever NCVWRA Championship. The all varsity title game will be held at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island with a 1 p.m. kickoff.

ALL-TIME AGAINST ARMY
Quinnipiac enters the championship 3-2 all-time against the Black Knights. During the 2013 season, Army defeated Quinnipiac, 39-27 in the first all-time matchup. Last season, the Bobcats went 2-0 against Army including a 46-17 win in the first round of the ACRA tournament at Vassar College. Earlier this year, the Black Knights bested the Bobcats, 29-24 in the second game of the season. Quinnipiac led 24-7 with 30 minutes to play, but Army responded with 22 straight points to secure the victory. On Senior Day, the Bobcats tasted a bit of revenge, defeating the Black Knights, 24-12 in Hamden.

SCOUTING THE BLACK KNIGHTS
Army enters the varsity cup game with a 9-4 overall record and 5-1 in the conference. The Black Knights are currently riding a four game win streak heading into the final game of the 2015 season. After falling to the Bobcats, Army capped off the regular season with wins over Air Force (43-0) and Navy (62-15). In the first round of the national tournament, the Black Knights defeated Harvard, 58-21. Army then took down American International College for a third time this year in the semifinal at Brown, 25-21. The Black Knights led the entire game as AIC's comeback fell just short as time ran out.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bobcats won their semifinal contest against Norwich, 36-22 at Brown on Friday afternoon. For the second time this year, Quinnipiac came out on top against the Cadets. After trailing 7-0 just one minute into the game, the Bobcats scored consecutive tries to take the lead and never looked back. Ilona Maher and Maggie Myles each converted two tries in the first half while Jennifer Fremd and Flora Poole also added scores.

CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS
The Bobcats hosted one of the four quarterfinals on Saturday, November 14^th as the highest overall seed. In addition to the QU contest against West Chester, the number two seed out of the Ivy League, Brown fell at home to the number three seed from New England, AIC, 27-19. As the Ivy League top seed, Dartmouth dropped to Norwich, the number four seed out of New England, 14-17. The last quarterfinal game featured New England's number two seed, Army, against Harvard, the three seed from the Ivy League with the Black Knights winning, 58-21.

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
Before the Bobcats defeated Norwich, Army held on to defeat American International College, 25-21 in the first semifinal. Quinnipiac then cemented their road to the finals with a win over the Cadets in the second semifinal.

LAST TIME AGAINST ARMY
On Senior Day against the Black Knights, the Bobcats jumped out to a 15-0 lead in the first half, eventually extending the advantage to 20 in the second frame. Army attempted to mount a comeback, scoring consecutive tries, but the QU defense held strong late in the game, stopping the Black Knights deep in their scoring territory to seal the win. Maher recorded two assists and a try while Haight, Johnson and Roskopf each connected on scores for the Bobcats.

STREAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME
Heading into the championship game, the Bobcats are currently riding a five game win streak, hoping to end the season with six consecutive victories. After falling to Central Washington, Quinnipiac won three straight conference games to close out the regular season. The Bobcats defeated AIC (54-21), Army (20-12) and West Chester (100-10). QU resumed their streak in the tournament, taking down West Chester in the first round (84-7) before a 36-22 win over Norwich in the semifinals.

RECORD PERFORMANCE
In the first game against West Chester, sophomore Ilona Maher tied a program record with six assists to go along with five tries. Maher's assists tied the Quinnipiac school mark held by former Bobcat, Elena Orlando, who set the record against Boston University at the 2013 national tournament. The sophomore's five scores ties a career high set earlier this season against AIC.

MAGIC EIGHT
In the regular season finale, eight different Bobcats combined to score against West Chester. Along with Maher, Autumn Martin, Maggie Myles, Flora Poole, Emily Roskopf,Rebecca Haight, Caitria Sands and Hailey Wyatt each found the scoring zone. Nine Bobcats scored in the second contest against the Golden Rams.

HARD WORK REWARDED
Heading into the final regular season game, the Quinnipiac found themselves atop the latest National Collegiate Women's Varsity Rugby Association (NCWVRA) Coaches Poll. The Bobcats sat at 5-1 in the conference and hosted a conference championship quarterfinal game as the top seed. Army sat at second place followed by AIC, Norwich, Dartmouth, Brown, Harvard, West Chester and Sacred Heart.

BOBCAT STRONG
Through twelve games this season, freshman Emily Roskopf and sophomore transfer Ilona Maher have combined for 40 total tries. Maher leads the team with 25 scores while Roskopf follows with 15 tries.

SETTING THE MAHER HIGH
Against AIC, Maher scored a career high five tries while adding an assist in the win. She contributed 25 of the 54 points including back-to-back tries to end the game. The sophomore has now recorded nine scores in the last three games.

SIX TRIES A SCORING
Against Brown, six different Bobcats each scored a try. Tesni Phillips began the scoring followed by Rebecca Haight and Emily Roskopf to close out the half. Raechel Stimsonstarted the huge run in the second half before Ilona Maher secured back-to-back tries.Karee Helgerson, Autumn Martin and another Maher try capped off the scoring for Quinnipiac.

SEASON TURNS TO AUTUMN
Freshman Autumn Martin scored her first career try in the win over Brown. Martin received the ball from Ilona Maher after it was tapped out by Megan Johnson and pushed it in for the score.
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MYLES AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION
Against Life, Maggie Myles contributed on all three of Quinnipiac's scores. Myles recorded two tries for ten points while also adding a beautiful assist in the victory. The junior now has five tries on the season.

TRANSFERING A WIN
Former Cadet Ilona Maher came up huge in the Bobcats win against Norwich. Maher scored two tries and added four runs over twenty. The sophomore tallied back-to-back scores on multiple 40 yard runs in the second half to help the team pull away. In addition, she registered a team high five tackles in the win.

TACKLING THE CADETS
Against Norwich, the Bobcats had five players who recorded at least four tackles in the game. Freshman Emily Roskopf and sophomores Jessica Maricich and Flora Poole each tallied four tackles while Maher and Myles recorded five apiece.

THREE WISE ASSISTS
In the win over Norwich, junior full back Lindey Wise tallied three assists. The junior transitioned from her normal position to a fly half for the game and provided helpers on three of the Bobcats' eight tries. Wise also added one tackle and a run over twenty.

FIRST TRY
Sophomores Karee Helgerson and Flora Poole each recorded their first career try against Dartmouth. Helgerson gave the Bobcats a 36-5 score by punching through the Big Green defense in the second half. Poole tallied her first career try with a 30 yard run for the final QU score of the day.

NEW FOUNDATIONS
This season marks a new conference for the Quinnipiac women's rugby team as they are one of eight programs to be founding members of the National Collegiate Varsity Women's Rugby Association (NCVWRA). Quinnipiac joins Army West Point, Brown, AIC, Dartmouth, Harvard, Norwich and West Chester as founding members. The conference is focused on growing the sport of women's rugby and is open to all NCAA schools at any level that sponsor women's rugby at the varsity level.

(Photo courtesy of Donna Doherty)