College rugby championships: Stanford women, Saint Mary’s men capture national titles
Stormy weather in Houston delayed the start of the Division I women’s college rugby championship for almost five hours. But once the Stanford women finally got started, there was no stopping them in their 36-19 victory over Grand Canyon University on Sunday.
“We warmed up three different times and were sent back to the locker rooms,” Stanford coach Richard Ashfield told the Bay Area News Group on Monday. “The players took it all in there stride. Some napped, some did homework.”
Stanford scored the first 17 points behind tries by Laura Bocek, Mahie Wilhelm and Journey Washingtonhigh.
Grand Canyon cut the deficit to five in the second half, but timely plays by the Cardinal’s leaders helped the Bay Area school pull away and win its fifth national title.
Ashfield was impressed by his team’s composure down the stretch considering that the Cardinal had nine first-year players.
“The players trusted the game plan and were led by some big plays by Syd Davis and Laura Bocek at key times,” Ashfield said.
While Stanford enjoyed a comfortable victory, its Bay Area brethren did not during the men’s Division I title game on Saturday.
Saint Mary’s outlasted defending champion Navy 26-22, hanging on to capture the Moraga school’s fourth national title under longtime coach Tim O’Brien.
The Gaels started out strong. Tries by speedy De La Salle alumni Dom Besag and Erich Storti, plus kicks by Erich’s younger brother Mario, put Saint Mary’s up 14-0 five minutes into the match.
Saint Mary’s prop John Battle Wilson gave the Gaels a 21-0 advantage at the 15-minute mark.
That’s when Navy started to show its championship pedigree. Midshipman Ben Haugh rumbled in for a try to make it 21-5 at halftime.
Menlo-Atherton alum Sosaia Pongi scored SMC’s last try of the season shortly after halftime, taking a Besag pitch to paydirt for a 26-5 Gael lead.
Navy then began to use its size to wear down the smaller Saint Mary’s tacklers. The Midshipmen scored two tries and kicked the ball through the uprights once to trim the deficit to four.
But Navy would get no closer. When they made one last push in the 80th minute, the Gaels intercepted a pass to end the game and bring the championship back to the East Bay.
“There are three elements of our game: juice, joy, and accuracy,” SMC flyhalf Inoke Waqavesi said in a statement released by the school. “It’s our winning equation.”