March 11, 2017
NSCRO/Penn Mutual Women’s 7s Select Side Team Makes a Strong Showing at the 2017 Las Vegas Invitational
Photo: NSCRO/Penn Mutual’s Ciara Pettinos, Hailey Thompson and Shae Ferguson at the 2017 Las Vegas Invitational.
National Small College Rugby Organization Release: Medford, NJ 10 March 2017
Last week, the NSCRO/Penn Mutual Women’s 7’s Select Side competed in their first Las Vegas Invitational (LVI) tournament. The team assembled on the evening of 28 February 2017, had two practices together on Wednesday, and competed on Thursday and Friday.
Sixteen collegiate women’s 7s teams competed at the LVI with the NSCRO/Penn Mutual team seeded second in their pool and fifth overall.
Below is a synopsis of the team’s progress at the LVI. A full recap can be found on our website here.
The first game against Quebec’s Nation’s Sports Academy (NSA), a top-seeded select side team in their pool. NSCRO/Penn Mutual came out strong, scoring a try within the first two minutes of the game. Nation’s Sports hit back two back-to-back tries within a minute of each other to take a 5-10 lead but a turnover gave NSCRO/Penn Mutual an opportunity to tie the score at the half, 10-10. NSCRO/Penn Mutual once again opened the second half with points on the board and finished the game with a final score NSCRO/Penn Mutual 29, Nation’s Sports Academy 10. (Tries by Erica Long, Anna Elder, Kelcey Stutzman (2) and Shae Ferguson; conversion by Kelcey Stutzman (2))
The second game of the day was against Utah State 2, the second of two teams representing the school. Again, the NSCRO/Penn Mutual team dominated the game with tries at the opening of each half then finishing the match with a score of 44-0. (Tries by Shae Ferguson (2), Nikki Ciccarelli, Kelcey Stutzman, Erica Long (2), Emily Clinton, Val Driscoll; conversions by Kelcey Stutzman, Ciara Pettinos)
The NSCRO/Penn Mutual team finished their pool by shutting out New Mexico State University with a final score of 53-0. (Tries by Shae Ferguson, Hailey Thompson, Nikki Ciccarelli (3), Ciara Pettinos, Emily Clinton, Kiara Long, Mary Kate McNulty; conversions by Kelcey Stutzman (4))
The team finished 3-0 in Pool D with 126 points for and 10 points against.
Cup Quarterfinal
The quarterfinal game matched NSCRO/Penn Mutual against Utah State 1. While the first half was played entirely in the Utah State half they made a strong defensive stand and challenged NSCRO in all of the scrums. Ciara Pettinos was able to poach a ball at the breakdown and raced in for the only score of the first half. The momentum continued into the second half, ending with shutout NSCRO/Penn Mutual 20, Utah State 0. (Tries by Ciara Pettinos, Nikki Ciccarelli, Kelcey Stutzman (2))
Cup Semifinal
The semifinal game was against the University of British Columbia who had outscored opponents by 130-17 in pool play and looked very impressive in their 36-0 win over Dixie State in their quarterfinal.
NSCRO/Penn Mutual had most of the early possession and were rewarded with a try to put the first points on the board. However, UBC was able to take advantage of the NSCRO/Penn Mutual team’s failure to mark the line out making the score NSCRO/Penn Mutual 5, UBC 7 at the half.
The second half started with UBC scoring from a weak side run by the scrum half followed by another try when NSCRO failed to retain possession from the restart (NSCRO 5, UBC 19). Undaunted, NSCRO hit back with their best try of the tournament (watch it on our YouTube page) to narrow the score to 19-10. Any hope of a comeback ended when UBC took advantage of some missed tackles to score a last try. Final score NSCRO 10, UBC 26. (Tries by Anna Elder (2))
University of British Columbia progressed on to beat Notre Dame College 19-7 in the tournament final.
The NSCRO/Penn Mutual team went 4-1 for the tournament and scored 156 points while conceding 36.
Squad
The squad was comprised of five players on the squad who competed in the 2016 CRC and seven new players selected through the player recommendation process.
Team
PLAYER COLLEGE
Emily Clinton
York College of PA – York, PA
Nikki Ciccarellil
Mount St. Mary’s University – Emmitsburg, MD
Valerie Driscoll
SUNY Potsdam – Potsdam, NY
Anna Elder
LeTourneau University – Longview, TX
Shae Ferguson Lee University – Cleveland, TN
Erica Long
California University of PA – California, PA
Kiara Long
Regis University – Denver, CO
Mary Kate McNulty (Captain)
Denison University – Granville, OH
Ciara Pettinos
Colgate University – Hamilton, NY
Leanna Rosberg
Wayne State College – Wayne, NE
Kelcey Stutzman
Wayne State College – Wayne, NE
Hailey Thompson
Lee University – Cleveland, TN
Bryn Chivers Coach
Jeff Noe Coach
Randi Linninger Athletic Trainer
Penn Mutual
The program is made possible by Penn Mutual and their continued support in the growth of women’s rugby.
Program information
Players can be referred to the program by having their coach complete this player recommendation form.
Contact Bryn Chivers via email or by phone at 773-308-3430 if you have questions about the program.
About National Small College Rugby Organization
Since 2007, the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) has been at the forefront of fostering and developing small college rugby programs in the United States. NSCRO is comprised of more than 230 men’s and 130 women’s colleges and universities who participate in more than 30 leagues for an opportunity compete on a national level and showcase their abilities to a broader and larger audience.
By focusing on small colleges and universities, we help bring these schools, their teams and players exposure outside of their conference/union while also giving them a chance at a national title and ranking. NSCRO provides a responsive national organization dedicated to small colleges and universities which has helped legitimize rugby in the eyes of school administrators. The increased visibility and recognition from NSCRO has led to better school support, greater on-campus interest in rugby and more alumni involvement.
NSCRO is “The Home of Small College Rugby in America”.
For more information, visit http://www.nscro.org and follow us on facebook.com/nscrorugby, @nscrorugby on Twitter and on @nscrorugby on Instagram.
