WASHINGTON, D.C.- After going 1-1 on Saturday at the Collegiate Rugby 7's Championships, the West Chester University women's rugby team went a perfect 2-0 on Saturday with wins over Southern Nazarene and Mount St. Mary's to conclude the 2024-25 season with a bowl championship (ninth-place finish).
Against Southern Nazarene in a rematch from the 2024 Championships, West Chester got trys from
Lily Rhode (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland), Brooke Crago (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) and Ty Hickey (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton) along with two conversions by Rhode to take an early 19-5 lead.
Southern Nazarene mounted a late-comeback, scoring a pair of trys in the game's final minutes but missed the conversion attempt as time expired, allowing the Golden Rams to hang on for a 19-18 victory.
Against Mount St. Mary's, Crago led the Golden Rams, scoring a team-high four trys, increasing her total for the day to five, while Rhode added a try of her own along with four conversions to lead the Golden Rams to a 33-12 victory over Mount St. Mary's.
"We responded well today after challenges on the opening day," said head coach
Tony DeRemer. "We focused heavily on defending better as a team and being more aggressive and we achieved both those goals today. It was a great way to end the season and I'm very proud of all of our players, especially our senior class, who had a great Tournament."
Rhode led the Golden Rams and the field in conversions with eight. With her two trys, Rhode also accounted for 26 points, which saw second best in the field, trailing only Naomi Dodd of American International College (6 trys-30 points). Crago, who was named the Golden Rams team MVP for the Tournament, finished second in trys and third in points with five trys and 25 points on the weekend.
