Princeton Women Place Third in USA Rugby Collegiate Championships

Princeton Women Place Third in USA Rugby Collegiate Championships

Princeton duplicated its 2011 feat of finishing 3rd in the official USA Rugby Sevens championships with a convincing 17-7 victory over Texas. The team is coached by Emil Signes and Chris Ryan with some help from Hana Passen '12. The staff also includes Jody Schneider and manager/videographer Nida Leeuwenbergh '13.

There were some disappointments along the way as Princeton was 4-2 and their two losses – to James Madison University (JMU) and Navy – were to two teams they had beaten a month ago.  But there were also great moments, as they defeated the champions and finalists of the PAC-12 conference.

Princeton Women's Squad

Morgan Arthur ‘14, Olivia Garard ‘13, Kristy Giandomenico ‘14, Ariel Jespersen ‘13, Madeleine Karn ’13, Devan Kreisberg ’13, Cat Lambert ‘15, Maddy Lea ‘16, Andrea Malleo ‘16, Dot Mittow ‘14, Mireille Pardon ‘14, Lauren Rhode ’12.

The Princeton Lady Tigers went into the first match of pool play against JMU confident, having beaten them 36-0 in the quarterfinal at Navy 7s a short month ago. Although they dominated early in the game, Princeton wasn't able to score and lost the match. In the second match in pool play, against the Lady Raiders from Texas Tech, Princeton won decisively 37-0.

Oregon State, the Pac-12 Sevens champion, was next for the Lady Tigers. Princeton played very well and beat the Beavers 21-0. Tries were scored by Lauren Rhode, Devan Kreisberg and Kristy Giandomenico. Lauren Rhode converted all 3 trys.

Final Day 1 Pool Standings

  1. 1. JMU 2-1 and +47 point differential
  2. 2. Princeton 2-1 and +46
  3. 3. Oregon State 2-1 and +5
  4. 4. Texas Tech 0-3
  5.  

The quarterfinal match, against pool winner Cal was defensive battle to start off Day 2. Dot Mittow, on a break, stiff-armed their #1 and scored.  With the game still in the balance, up and coming Princeton freshman Maddy Lea, who’d replaced the injured Devan Kreisberg, scored in the corner to put the game away. The semi-final vs. Navy proved to be a great disappointment with a late score by Navy to win the match 10-5.

Princeton dominated the 3rd place game and led Texas 17-0 until the last play of the game, when Texas scored to make the final 17-7.

Lauren Rhode led Princeton's scoring with 4 tries and 5 conversions. Morgan Arthur and Devan Kreisberg had 3 tries each, Dot Mittow 2 and Kristy Giandomenico, Ariel Jespersen, Maddy Lea and Mireille Pardon one each. Princeton held their opponents to only 5 tries in 6 games and 3rd place in the US is a great accomplishment.