Friday, November 7, 2008

Coyotes Still In National Rankings

Despite going 1-1 at the Great Plains Championships the USD Women only drop one spot in the ErugbyNews.com National DII rankings. The team was 22nd going into the weekend and only drop one place to 23rd after a solid win over Nebraska and tough loss to 12th ranked Wayne State. With most of the country having wrapped up their fall season it looks like the Coyotes will start the spring season in the Top 25.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Coyotes go 1-1 at Great Plains Championship


Great Plains Championships

The USD Women's Rugby Team played two games on Saturday with mixed results. In the opening game the Coyotes comfortably beat U of Nebraska 47-15 with tries from Mallory Zweber, Kayla Fiscus, Chelsie Kennedy, Darla Brandt (2), Tracy Elsen (2) and a try, penalty and two conversions by Donielle Gustafson.

The second game of the day was against Wayne State and the team was hoping for the same performance that almost created an upset result last week. Unfortunately the SDSU Women failed to field a team for the event and this resulted in Wayne getting a bye into the final. A tired USD team gave Wayne a good game in the early exchanges and were in the game through the first quarter. The effects of the early game began to show on the Coyote forwards and this resulted in Wayne winning more and more of the possession. USD had some opportunities and this lead to a fine try by Miranda Bakley who had another outstanding day on offense and defense. Final Score USD 5 Wayne State 43.

Overall this was a good day for the Coyotes. The game against Nebraska included a couple of very good team tries where several players were able to pass out of the tackle to support players coming onto the ball at pace. Against Wayne the forwards were able to walk a 5 meter scrum over the Wayne goal line and were unfortunate to knock the ball on in goal. This was the first time in a long time that the Coyotes have played two games in a day and it certainly hammered home the need for all the players to use the off season to work on fitness.

USD Ranked in Women's DII Top 25

From ErugbyNews.com

DII Women Top 25

October 30, 2008 – In the ERugbyNews Women DII college rankings, we can’t see any reason to drop down Shippensburg, which continues to play very solid rugby football. Delaware, Norwich and Slippery Rock all look strong. Wyoming moves up.

Wayne State moves down after escaping 10-7 against South Dakota. The USD players are just hitting their stride after some tough games to start the season. Under coach Bryn Chivers they are getting better, and in fact twice saw the winning try held up in goal.

Said the coach who runs the USA U20 team and has won national all-star championship, “I forgot how wonderfully therapeutic it can be to coach players to just go out and play for the fun of it.”

USD breaks the rankings this week.

So, too, does East Carolina, who really shouldn’t have been dropped. They beat North Carolina in tournament play this past week, and make the top 10.

We couldn’t bring ourselves to exclude a number of teams so we’ve expanded to a Top 25. Western Washington, Georgetown, George Washington (there’s a pattern here) and College of Charleston all come in.


Women DII

1 Shippensburg 5-0 (1)
48-0 over College of New Jersey

2 Delaware 5-1 (2)
53-0 over Bloomsburg

3 Norwich 6-1 (3)
67-5 over So. Conn.

4 Slippery Rock 5-0 (4)
62-0 over Bowling Green, 17-5 over Ball State

5 Marist 6-0 (5)
37-10 over New Paltz

6 Wyoming 3-0 (7)
46-5 over Northern Colorado

7 Bowdoin 6-0 (6)
25-0 over Williams

8 Hamilton 6-0 (9)
36-14 over Buffalo State

9 East Carolina 3-0 (Unr)
Won NC tournament, Beat UNC

10 University of Vermont 5-1 (10)
28-0 over Boston College

11 Stonehill 6-0 (11)
39-10 over New Hampshire

12 Wayne St. Neb. 3-0 (8)
10-7 over South Dakota

13 Texas Tech 2-0 (2-2) (10)
Idle

14 Longwood 5-0 (15)
Idle

15 Mary Washington 3-2-1 (16)
Alumni Game

16 LaSalle 4-1 (17)
17-7 over Bryn Mawr

17 UM-Duluth (Unr)
27-5 over UW-Whitewater (18), 49-0 over Marquette

18 Illinois State
Over St. Cloud State, 32-17 over Winona State (19)

19 Michigan 8-0 (20)
25-5 over IUP, 43-17 over Michigan State

20 Canisius 5-0 (13)
5-0 over Siena

21 Western Washington 2-0 (Unr)
37-5 over Western Oregon

22 South Dakota 1-2 (1-3) (Unr)
Lost 10-7 to Wayne State (8)

23 Georgetown 5-0 (Unr)
36-7 over UMBC

24 George Washiington 5-0

25 College of Charleston 1-0 (Unr)
Idle