Women's Rugby Set to Open 2025 Season at Davenport on Saturday Morning

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WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Head coach Tony DeRemer and the West Chester University women's rugby team are finishing their preparations for the beginning of a new season on Saturday as the team heads for Grand Rapids, Michigan, to take on NIRA rival and perennial power Davenport beginning at 10 a.m.

"We've had a good preseason and feel like we are ready to get the new year underway," opened DeRemer. "We had an extra week this year compared to some recent years, and that has been really helpful. The extra few days gave us a good chance to get our systems and new players in place and have some good, physical practice to get ready for what we are going to see this weekend and all season."

Saturday's road test is the first of three straight NIRA Division II matchups for West Chester in September, although the next two will both occur on South Campus as American International will come to West Chester on Friday, the 19th, before New Haven pays a visit to South Campus on Saturday, the 27^th.

"These first few weeks will be big for us," acknowledged DeRemer. "It'll give us a quick indicator of where we are at and what we need to work on. We lost a lot of talented players to graduation last year, but we brought in an exciting new group, too, so we are young, but I think very talented. I want to see us continue to develop through these first few weeks and get up to speed quickly."

Saturday's matchup will also be an important first step in the yearly quest for an appearance in the NIRA Tournament as the Golden Rams look to capture another National Championship after winning their first in 2019. The Golden Rams have appeared in the Semifinal Round of the NIRA Tournament every year following this Championship, including a return trip to the National Championship match in 2021. However, West Chester has not been able to hoist the Championship trophy.

"Making the postseason is a goal for us every year, and it's something that we've been able to meet, so it's really rewarding and validating for the team. It's exciting to see how each team develops over the course of a season."

The Golden Rams graduated a large senior class last year and with it a number of major contributors, including Brooke Crago (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area), Ty Hickey (Harlesyville, Pa./Souderton), Elly Gorham (Alexandria, Va./Hayfield Secondary School), and Sara McNicholas (Stony Point, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) to name a few. However, the Golden Rams do have an excellent returning core, headlined by Emma Davies (Kennett Square, Pa./Kennett), Christelle Adikpeto (Abomey-Calavi, Benin/Moon Area), and Camryn Snow (Exton, Pa./West Chester East), who led the team in scoring last fall.

"The returning group has looked good so far," said DeRemer. "They look strong and confident and have done a good job taking control of the team and leading the group," said DeRemer.
Davies led the team in scoring a year ago with 61 points with 17 conversions, four penalty kicks, and three trys, while Adikpeto enjoyed a breakout rookie season and led the team in trys with 9 for 45 points on the year. Snow added four trys of her own, scoring 20 points on the season.

In addition to a deep group of returners, West Chester also welcomes in a host of talented newcomers, who bring rugby experience along with them, including Olivia Amann (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West), Paige Binderup (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor), Skye Dreher (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island), Ella Hoke (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown STEM Academy), Amelia Johnson (Fairfield, Ct./Fairfield Warde), Lillian Kopp (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor), Sophia Saffrin (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park), Makaela Snow (Exton, Pa./West Chester East), RaeLeigh Sparzak (Perry Hall, Md./Perry Hall), Evie Staehle (Exton, Pa./West Chester East).

"We've got a good group of new players," acknowledged DeRemer when asked about his incoming group. "We replaced our graduated class with 10 new players, who all have experience, and that has really let us jump right into our team concepts, so I'm expecting them to jump right in and make an impact."

Following its two home matchups against AIC and New Haven, West Chester will face Bowdoin at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, on October 4 before returning home to host Emory & Henry on October 11 at 11 a.m. in its final home game of the regular season. West Chester will conclude its regular season with back-to-back road matchups at Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, the 18th at 11 a.m., before visiting Frostburg State on October 25 at 1 p.m.

Across the Country, Golden Ram Alum Autumn Czaplicki is continuing her stay with the USA Women's Rugby program. When asked for an update on Czaplicki, DeRemer said, "Yes. She signed another year-long contract with USA Rugby in Chula Vista. We are getting closer and closer to the next Olympic Cycle, and if you are with the program during that cycle, there is a really strong chance that you will be on that squad. This year will be her chance to continue impressing and earning her spot on that team. It's a really exciting time for our program to see her doing so well on the National Level, and we are certainly hoping to get good news out of California soon," ended DeRemer.