BRUNSWICK, Me.- The West Chester University women's rugby team (4-3, 4-2) is preparing for its National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) Division II Semifinal on Saturday morning at second-seeded Bowdoin (5-1) as the Golden Rams look to make their first National Championship match appearance since 2021. Kickoff in the second matchup this season between the Golden Rams and Polar Bears is set for 11 a.m. For fans unable to make the trip to Maine to cheer on the Golden Rams in person, a live stream of the match is available
here.
"The season has come around pretty well," acknowledged head coach
Tony DeRemer. "We got off to a slow start, but we have turned things around over the last few weeks, and I think we are pretty healthy again, which is big going into the postseason. We had a great game against Frostburg State to earn our spot and our seed, and we are excited to face Bowdoin again with the potential to get back into the Championship round if we win."
West Chester returns to the NIRA Division II Semifinals for the sixth year in a row in 2025, but it is the first time since 2021 that the team will not have to face Davenport, who had to forfeit a number of matches due to an ineligible player returning to the Championship match.
In 2021, West Chester earned a bye directly to the Championship, facing American International College (AIC) in West Point, falling to the Yellow Jackets by a 29-17 final as AIC denied the Golden Rams' plans to repeat as Division II Champions. If West Chester is able to vanquish Bowdoin on Saturday morning and punch its ticket back to the National Championship, the Golden Rams would potentially face AIC in a rematch of that 2021 National Championship match, as the top-seeded Yellow Jackets will host Frostburg State in the other semifinal at 12 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
"That semifinal should be a great matchup. Frostburg State will have a good chance at advancing as they are much improved over recent years. AIC is always strong across the board and has turned into a great rivalry for us, so we'd love to see either team next week," said DeRemer.
Led by the duo of
Emma Davies (Kennett Square, Pa./Kennnett) and
Christelle Adikpeto (Abomey Calavi, Benin/Moon Area), who scored 42 and 25 points in the regular season, respectively, West Chester heads into the Tournament at 4-3 on the season. Davies leads the team in scoring with 42 points thanks to 11 conversions, five penalty kicks and a try, while Adikpeto has a team-best five tries to go along with three from
Bridget Kowalski (Chester Springs, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) and two each from
Sofia Lasonio (), Camryn Snow (Exton, Pa./West Chester East), Olivia Amann (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West), and Evie Staehle (Exton, Pa./West Chester East).
"It's been a team effort all season for us both offensively and defensively," said DeRemer. "15s is such a team game, and we have some great finishers, but so many of our trys have come from full team efforts. Snow (Camryn) has done a great job at scrumhalf and has taken on a leadership role, and players like Olivia Amman and
Ashlyn Wissler (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) don't necessarily have the numbers that Christelle (Adikpeto) or Emma (Davies) have, but have done a great job in the middle and have really kept us moving forward," explained DeRemer.
West Chester heads into the postseason well rested as the Golden Rams come off a three-week layoff from their last match, which was a 30-20 victory at Frostburg State in the regular season finale. This victory, which was powered by a late PK by Davies and a final try from
Addy LaCarrubba (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) with just two minutes to play, locked the Golden Rams in as the third seed and gave the team its second win in three games after also earning a forfeit victory over Emory & Henry on Senior Day earlier in October. The lone loss in this stretch came against a NIRA Division I foe as Mount St. Mary's handed the Golden Rams a 40-5 loss in Maryland in mid-October for what was the Golden Rams' first loss since a 37-27 setback against Bowdoin on October 4.
Asked about the three-week layoff, DeRemer said, "We don't always get a gap like this, and I don't always like it when we do, but this season it was really good for us. It gave us a good chance to get healthy, and we had a full squad out at practice on Monday. It's also given us a good chance to watch a lot of film on both ourselves and Bowdoin, so we feel prepared heading into Saturday."
In the first meeting against Bowdoin, West Chester fell behind 32-5 in the first 30 minutes of the match but held the Polar Bears to just one try over the next 52 minutes and got trys from Davies, Staehle, and Kowalski to nearly come all the way and shock Bowdoin.
"In that first game, we hadn't seen them in a while, and I don't think we were as ready as we needed to be," said DeRemer. "We got down early but were able to fight our way back in, and while we came up short, it gave us good confidence that we know we can score on them and can certainly hold them, so we just need to make sure we are ready to go mentally right away."
Bowdoin enters the Tournament at 5-1 on the season, with its lone loss being a 43-0 setback at American International in late October. The Polar Bears found a way in every other match, posting a 79-33 win over New Haven, a 27-17 win over Northeastern, a 41-20 win over Frostburg State, a 37-27 win over the Golden Rams, and a 45-41 win over Bishop's in the regular-season finale on November 1.
The winner of Saturday morning's semifinal will advance to the Division II Championship match, which is to be played on November 22 at Harvard against the winner of the other semifinal between American International and Frostburg State.
