NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University women's rugby team secured the 2024 Chris Munn Rugby 7's Tournament Championship in exhilarating fashion, battling four other rugby programs en route to taking down the perennial powerhouse University of New England in the title game.
The Cadets were split between two teams throughout pool play, competing as the Norwich Maroon and Norwich Gold squads. In Pool A play, the Maroon team finished 1-1, coasting past Middlebury, 17-0, while falling to UNE, 22-5. Norwich topped Middlebury behind three tries from
Siobhan O'Donnell,
Taina Negron, and
Maddy Ortiz.
The Gold team, meanwhile, decimated New England College, 40-0, to kick off Pool B action, with six different players contributing tries. In the second game, the Cadets again shut out the opposition, scoring five tries en route to toppling intrastate foe Saint Michael's College, 27-0.
The Maroon and Gold teams subsequently met in the Pool B Winner vs. Pool A Runner-Up showdown. Despite a try from
Jamila Nyamekye on the Gold team, the Maroon team asserted themselves in the 17 minutes of play, as six different Cadets again scored tries.
Advancing to the afternoon's Championship game, the two teams combined to take on a UNE team that had outscored its three opponents, 87-10, throughout the afternoon. The Cadets rushed out to a swift 14-0 lead, courtesy of tries from
Leslie Malin and
Jenifer Nicolas-Ramirez and a pair of conversion kicks from
Octavia Crawford.
The Nor'easters gradually whittled the lead down, scoring a pair of tries to bring Norwich's lead down to 14-10. Although UNE continued to threaten the Cadet momentum, the win was sealed in the closing seconds, as a falling Ortiz found Crawford in stride, who ran over 60 yards to secure Norwich's third try before converting the final kick to claim the 21-10 victory.
Norwich will now look ahead to a Sunday, Apr. 14 trip for a rematch with the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. The Cadets then take the field the following Sunday at Bowdoin College.
