Photo by Holly Davies
After three away matches, WCU women’s rugby returns home to face the University of New Haven (UNH) in their season home opener.
WCU and UNH faced off last season in an away match that ended in a 66–0 WCU win. The Golden Rams were led by then-captain Heather Spangler, who scored three tries, and current captain Sara McNicholas with six conversions.
With Spangler and McNicholas missing from the lineup, the team will look toward junior Brooke Crago, who scored two tries against UNH. The team will also look toward freshman Emma Davies to pick up where McNicholas left off in the kicking department.
UNH has played three games this season prior to this match against WCU. They faced the University of New England (UNE), American International College and Norwich University. They defeated the University of New England in their home opener with a score of 45–7. UNH junior Gia Cucarese scored two tries in the match, while junior Ella Nenoff kicked three of UNH’s six successful conversions.
The Chargers defense only allowed one try in this game at the 19th minute. They then held UNE at one try for 61 minutes. The Golden Rams will look to test the Chargers’ defense in this match in front of a home crowd.
“We really look forward to kicking off our home stand next Saturday versus University of New Haven,” head coach Tony DeRemer said.
WCU has a conference record of 0–1 after falling to Davenport University (155–6) and an overall record of 1–2. They also fell to the United States Naval Academy (USNA) 38–3 and defeated Frostburg State University (FSU) 37–12.Since those matches, WCU rugby had a bye weekend to rest their bodies.
“With a week off since our last game, the team has had time to work on more specific skill sets and is improving each day,” DeRemer said.
Regardless of last season’s definitive win, it has been over a year since WCU has faced UNH in 15s play.
“At the end of the day we don’t know what UNH is bringing,” Crago said.
Davies leads the team in points with five penalty kicks and three conversions for a total of 21 points. Five other Golden Rams have scored one try so far this season, including Crago. Four of the five try-scorers were playing in a forward position with Crago being the only back player to score.
In rugby, the numbers on the jersey are connected to the positions. Numbers one through eight are called forwards and numbers nine through 15 are called backs. Forwards tend to be the bigger, stronger players that hit hard. Backs tend to be smaller and faster players that run plays in the backline.
WCU has had a consistent roster this season, with nine players starting in all three games so far this season, but has seen many new players join the roster.
“With the addition of new players and walk-ons to the team, we are starting to get to know each other more and more every day and learning each other’s tendencies,” DeRemer said.
The Chargers are in their second 15s season in program history. They had a 1–5 overall record and a 0–3 conference. Their sole 15s win in the 2022 season was a 19–7 win over the University of Connecticut.
The Golden Rams will be back in action next weekend on Oct. 14 against American International College (AIC) at the South Campus Rugby Field. UNH fell 108–0 to AIC in their second match of the season. To finish their homestand, the Golden Rams will face Lander University on Oct. 21 at 11 a.m. before getting back on the road to finish their regular season against Penn State University.
Ty Hickey is a rostered player of the WCU women’s rugby team.
Ty Hickey is a third-year Media and Culture major with a minor in Chinese. CH983713@wcupa.edu