CAMBRIDGE, Mass.- For the first time since 2021, the West Chester University women's rugby team (5-3) will take the field on Saturday afternoon to play for a National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) Division II Championship against perennial power American International College (6-1). Kickoff at Harvard is set for 12:05 p.m.
For fans making the trip to support the Golden Rams in person, tickets will be required and should be purchased via this link. For fans unable to make the trip, the match will be live streamed on ESPN+, the link for that stream is available here.
AIC and West Chester have formed quite a rivalry in 15s play over the years, including a clash in the 2021 Championship match, which the Yellow Jackets won by a () final in a match played West Point. West Chester returns to Harvard for Championship Saturday for the first time since its 2019 Championship victory over Dartmouth, a win which the new group of Golden Rams is well aware of heading into the 2025 Championship match.
Appearing in its sixth consecutive Semifinal last weekend, West Chester ventured to Maine and defeated Bowdoin by a 19-5 final, exacting revenge for loss against the Polar Bears in a neutral site game at Vassar College in early October.
"Saturday was a great victory for the team," started head coach
Tony DeRemer. "Saturday was probably the best we have played in years. I thought we really came together last week and were in great control of our game and the game as a whole. We dominated possession most of the day and played really well as a cohesive unit. It was a great win and it felt grea too. Going up and beating them at home was great and then a rematch after giving up 32 points in 25 minutes, holding them to five points for the whole game was amazing. I was very proud of the effort that this group put forward."
In this game, West Chester found itself trailing at the half before rattling off 19 unanswered in the second half to advance.
Emma Davies (Kennett Square, Pa./Kennett) opened the scoring for West Chester in the second half as she crashed up the middle for a try before
Sofia Loasnio (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) finished off a long drive with a try of her own with 14 minutes ot play to give West Chester a 12-5 lead.
Camryn Snow (Exton, Pa./West Chester East) capped off the scoring with a try with eight minutes to play as she scampered in from 50 yards out to give the Golden Rams a commanding 19-5 lead.
Saturday's match will be the Golden Rams second matchup against AIC this season after hosting the Yellow Jackets in their home opener in Mid-September. AIC raced out to a 14-0 lead before Snow answered with a try of her own three minutes later, which cut the lead to 12-5. AIC rattled off 54 unanswered points from here seize firm control of the match and earn a 66-8 victory on a hot Friday afternoon on South Campus.
"AIC is certainly a great team that gets better and better every year," acknowledged DeRemer. "They are big, strong, and fast so it forces us to really be at our best in a lot of ways. We are excited for this game- we have a great rivalry with them so it's always exciting to get to play them again. We've come a long way since our first matchup in early September so we are certainly ready for another shot at them on Saturday."
AIC, the defending NIRA Division II Champions, punched its ticket back to the Championship match with a dominant 107-0 victory over Frostburg State in the NIRA Semifinals at home last weekend. The Yellow Jackets have won two titles in the last four seasons with the lone other Championship being against West Chester in 2021.
Conditions will be far different on Saturday at Harvard with temperatures expected to hover in the low 40s under partly cloudy skies. Neither side will be surprised by this as Harvard is just x-miles away from American International's campus, while West Chester played in 40-degree weather, surrounded by snow drifts at Bowdoin a week ago.
"I'm very proud of this group" said DeRemer. "We had a tough start to the season with those games against Davenport and AIC but this group, led by our captains came back out with great energy and really helped us turn our season around. We could see a mindset shift in this group in mid-September and they are doing such a great job working together that a lot of good things are happening for us."
Following Saturday's match, West Chester will be off until 2026 when the team returns to action for 7s.
