QU Women's Rugby Opens With 32-19 Road Win Over Army

Thursday, September 1

West Point, N.Y. / Anderson Rugby Complex

6:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Army West Point

QU Women's Rugby Opens With 32-19 Road Win Over Army

9/1/2016 9:38:00 PM | Women's Rugby

By: QU Sports Information

WEST POINT, N.Y. - The defending national champion Quinnipiac women's rugby team opened the 2016 season with a 32-19 road win over Army West Point on Thursday evening in a rematch of the 2015 national title game.

The Bobcats picked up right where they left off earning the seventh win in a row, dating back to 2015, including a 24-19 win over Army in last season's national championship. Army handed Quinnipiac one of its two losses last year, but the Bobcats have bounced back to win the last three meetings between the teams, with victories in the final match of 2015 and the opening match of 2016.

The first half saw the teams trade scores, as Ilona Maher (pictured) had the first two tries of the season for the Bobcats, giving the team 6-0 and 10-5 leads (the first off an assist from Caitria Sands). After Army went ahead 12-10, Maher scored again off a pass from Maggie Myles to give Quinnipiac the lead back at 17-12 with 6:16 left in the half. The Black Knights answered, though, scoring on a long run up the right sideline to take the 19-17 lead into halftime.

Ilona Maher opened the season with two tries and an assist to lead the way for the Bobcats, scoring both of her tries in the first half to keep Quinnipiac in striking distance. Maher then helped Quinnipiac take the lead for good when she shuffled a pass to Emily Roskopf, who charged up the left sideline and into the try zone to put the Bobcats ahead 22-19 just 1:55 into the second half.

Quinnipiac extended its lead later in the second half off an inbounds play, when Flora Poole caught a pass from Tayler Schussler and barreled through four defenders on her way in to give the Bobcats a two-possession lead at 27-19 with 25:50 to play. Rebecca Haight capped off the scoring with 7:42 left when she took a lateral pass from Mason Johnson and broke in to the left side of the end zone for her first try of the year, making the score 32-19.

"We came away with the win, which is always nice when it's your opener, but we also displayed elements of a team that was experiencing their opener," said Head Coach Becky Carlson. "Working out the kinks and seeing a live ball after preseason is always an interesting transition, and in the first half we most certainly had to shake out a lot of those kinks. We needed to adjust to Army running a hard ball up the middle and allocating a lot of speed in their backs. We answered that the second half and really I think at the end around the last ten minutes, our fitness really shined through. I'm so proud of the team and the way they played. There is certainly room for improvement, and we're looking forward to the next one."

Quinnipiac will continue on its quest for a second national championship on Friday, Sept. 9, when they travel up to Springfield, Massachusetts to meet American International College for a 6 p.m. contest.