PSU Women's Rugby - 2019 Fall Recap
University Park, PA - The women’s team finished the season 7-4; 5-0 in the Big Ten, earning and retaining their 8th consecutive B1G championship! The Nittany Lions fielded 20 new players this fall, 15 whom played their very first games of rugby. This made winning the B1G particularly special as it was accomplished in large part by a quickly developing, inexperienced group that was led by a very small group of upperclassmen.
The team did not fare as well against out-of-conference opponents going 0-2 against D1 Elite teams Life and Lindenwood and 1-2 against NIRA opponents, Army, Quinnipiac and Notre Dame College.
Opponents & Results
Quinnipiac University (NIRA) 22-23
Life University (D1 Elite) 12-44
University of Notre Dame (B1G) 69-12
Davenport University (B1G) 24-15
Navy (At - Large) 43-12
Army (NIRA) 0-70
Michigan State (B1G) 52-32
Lindenwood (D1 Elite) 0-104
Indiana University (B1G) 63-29
Notre Dame College (NIRA) 29-7
University of Michigan (B1G) 64-5
Despite some tough losses against good opponents there were quite a few bright spots in the season alongside our conference championship. One of the brightest being our amazing Friends & Family Weekend early in the fall with over 300 people in attendance. Traditionally this event has been attended primarily by alumni. This year’s event had the most parents ever in attendance highlighting the hard work of the Booster Club to increase parent engagement. With more parents and an amazing turnout of the men’s class of ’99, the program and Booster Club had a great platform to kick off the “Level the Playing Field” fundraising campaign. A huge thank you is owed to the ‘99 guys for pledging $99,000 over the next 3 years along with several substantial donations by parents to kick start the campaign.
We were also grateful to have Penn State Rugby founder Larry Kuhns in attendance in what ended up being his last Family and Friends weekend. Larry has been a cornerstone to this program that will never be replaced and will always be missed. Rest in peace, Larry.
Also due to the generosity of our alumni and parents, we had the opportunity to work with some phenomenal guest coaches this fall. They included forward specialist and British and Irish Lion Alex Corbisiero, our favorite Australian kicking coach Damien Hill and throwing coach Luke Lewis. Damien and Alex were able to spend four weeks with the team and Luke spent one week as a guest coach.
With a jam-packed fall full of player development on and off the field, and the generous support of parents and alumni alike, the team can now look to and focus on the hard work of the spring. There is no doubt there is some hard work to be done to compete at the D1 Elite National semi-finals. To prepare the team will attend a round robin and compete against D1 Elite team Life University and All-Star teams USA South and Capitol Selects. Spring break this year is back in England. Upon returning the team will have 1-2 additional warm up games prior to the semi-finals on April 11th. With a win the team will move onto the National Championship on April 25th in Obetz, Ohio at Fortress Obetz.
The women’s 7 season will be short with just 3 weeks of prep prior to the USARugby 7s National Championships. There will be no Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) in Philadelphia this year. The 7s championships will run May 22-24th and are expected but not confirmed to take place at the Matthews Sports Complex in Charlotte, NC.
The program continues to grow and develop and only does so with the support of all our family, friends and alumni. We can never thank you enough for all you do. Wishing you all the best this winter and looking forward to an exciting spring!
