Seawolves are on the rise athletically recently. Perhaps no team, however, is rising as fast as the Women’s Rugby club. The club is on the verge of possibly their best season since its inception in 1987, going undefeated and finishing atop the tri-state conference.
On Sunday, the team capped off their regular season against Fordham University at home on the campus rec fields. In blowout fashion, Stony Brook beat Fordham 81-0, scoring consistently even late into the second half, sending a ball through the uprights just minutes before time ran out. Even with very little on the line Sunday, Stony Brook was still managed to keep momentum going into the postseason and complete the undefeated season, finishing 6-0.
Women’s rugby may not be the first sport that comes to mind when you’re looking at clubs to join on campus, but senior captain Carmen Ng suggests otherwise. “Women’s Rugby is one of the fastest growing sports on campus. We get lots of new players each semester and all are welcome to come try it out,” Ng said. If you have never seen them before, they play with 15 players at a time, but have a much larger roster. In addition to local league play, women’s rugby also has competed in Sevens tournaments (seven players on the field at once) over the past couple years in Las Vegas.
Rugby is not only gaining ground on campus, but abroad as well. Next years’ Summer Olympics will play host to women’s rugby for the first time ever. Olympic competition is also played Sevens style. Rugby has yet to join the NCAA stage. However, judging by the significant momentum college club rugby has made over the past few years, its not crazy to say that NCAA sponsorship is in its horizon
A 6-0 season earned Stony Brook the honor of hosting both the quarterfinal and semifinal games at Stony Brook Oct. 26 at 12 p.m. on the Campus Recreation fields. Other schools that will participate in the postseason tournament will include Binghamton University and University at Albany from the North Division and Molloy College will be the other representative from the South Division.
