WEST CHESTER, Pa. - The undefeated West Chester University Golden Rams will host its first National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) Tier II playoff match when the first round of the postseason gets under way on Saturday, Nov. 9 at the South Campus Rugby Pitch at 1:00 p.m.
The game will be streamed live at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/wcupa by the West Chester University athletics department for those rugby fans who cannot attend the historic match.
West Chester (9-0, 6-0 NIRA) hosts Mount St. Mary's (5-3, 3-3). The winner of Saturday's semifinal match will move on to the 2019 NIRA Championships Supported by HSBC on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 12:00 p.m. at Harvard University in Boston, Mass. The Mount defeated Sacred Heart, 22-15, in last year's inaugural NIRA Tier II Championship. Ubaida Ahmed was named the game's player of the match.
The Golden Rams defeated the Mountaineers earlier this season in an epic 15-14 battle.
Autumn Czaplicki (Pillow, Pa./Line Mountain) scored two tries on the day to lead the Golden Rams' offense.
West Chester has outscored its opponents, 311-121, this season and has been led offensively by sophomores Czaplicki and
Kylie Corless (Wrightstown, Pa./Archbishop Wood). Czaplicki is the team's scoring leader with 11 tries this season, while Corless has become the team's conversion specialist, tallying 20 of the team's 23 conversions.
Head Coach
Tony DeRemer has been the head coach the women's rugby team since it was elevated to varsity status.
"The team has really been focused this year on improving each week and building on what they know," DeRemer commented. "I am proud of how hard they have worked and how committed they are to winning every week.
"We've developed a strong rivalry with Mount St. Mary's with some very close games over the past few years and this weekend will be no different. I know The Mount will come out hungry. But, we just have to play our game and settle into our game plan."
Saturday marks the team's first playoff match since the league split into three tiers. The fledgling league, is in its second season with the tiered format. West Chester did play one other NIRA playoff match back in the fall of 2016 when all of the schools in the league were lumped together into one division.
Despite the Golden Rams' initial appearance in the Tier II playoffs, the program is very familiar with the postseason in general. West Chester won three consecutive Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (EPRU) titles from 2006 to 2008. The Rams dropped the 2009 EPRU final, which halted a personal four-match playoff winning streak. WCU went on to reach the EPRU finals in both 2010 and 2011, but lost each year to a very powerful Penn State squad.
From 2012 to 2014, West Chester competed in the Mason-Dixon Tournament, which was held in the spring. The Golden Rams reached the championship game each year, winning titles back-to-back in 2013 and 2014. West Chester also qualified for USA Rugby Nationals in those same three seasons, going 4-4 in the process.
Throughout the 16-year stint as a varsity women's rugby program, West Chester shows an overall postseason record of 16-10 with three EPRU titles and a pair of Mason-Dixon titles to its credit. In fall postseason matches, the Golden Rams are an even 5-5 with the three EPRU triumphs to their credit.
DeRemer has been at the helm for all 16 of those wins and all five of those tournament championships. They all add up to an overall career 136-75-3 record. Along the way, he has suffered just one losing season, missed the playoffs only twice and just completed the school's first unbeaten regular season. The opportunity for two more wins and a sixth conference crown are in front of him Saturday and next weekend.
