Allendale, Michigan - The Bowling Green Falcons Women's concluded their opening tournament of the Spring season as the Winners of the Great Lakes Conference National Qualifier for the Collegiate Rugby Championship 7's Nationals Tournament hosted by Grand Valley State University. The Falcons have now booked their return ticket to the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Maryland, on April 24th through April 26th!
This weekend's tournament was the Great Lakes Conference National Qualifier for DII Women's Collegiate 7s. In addition to Bowling Green, Oakland University, Ball State, Grand Valley, Central Michigan, and Saginaw Valley all participated in the tournament. Bowling Green was placed in Pool A with Oakland and Ball State.
The weekend began with a pool play match-up against GVSU's B side. The Falcons breezed by with a 63-7 win. Anna Wannemacher, Alyssa Schwan, and Amille Youngblood each scored a brace. Elyse Werner, Vivian Novak, and Allie Beintum each scored once. The Falcons scored nine tries from six scorers. They next defeated Oakland University 77-0 in the final pool play game of the weekend. Jaz Shepler, Vivian Novak, and Sami Tripi each scored a brace. Grace Anderson, Gwen Langhals, Madison Russel, Taylor Westrick, and Amille Youngblood had one try each. The Falcons scored 11 tries from eight scorers. Bowling Green finished pool play 2-0 after scoring 140 pts, conceding 7 pts, and a points differential of +133.
As a result of Bowling Green going 2-0 during pool play, Bowling Green qualified for the tournament final, with automatic qualification to the Women's D2 2026 NCR Collegiate Rugby Championship on the line. The Falcons faced GVSU, who were in Pool B and also finished 2-0. Grand Valley began the tournament with a 70-0 win over Central Michigan and a 63-0 win over Saginaw Valley. Grand Valley finished the pool play with 133 pts for, conceding 0 pts, and a points differential of +133.
The championship game had a rocky start for the Falcons. They went down 14-0 early in the match. However, BG brought the score to 14 all at the half. After half-time, the women's team managed to rediscover their scoring ways. They scored 35 unanswered points and shut out Grand Valley in the second half, making it 49-14 at full time. In the final, Tripi scored 4 tries with Jordyn Barr, Westrick, and Schwan contributing with one apiece. BG scored seven tries from four different Falcons in the final match of the tournament. The Falcons finished the tournament 3-0, 189 pts, conceding 21 pts, a points differential of +168, and a return trip to Nationals!
Who Scored:
What's Next:
Although already qualified, Bowling Green's next tournament will be the Aquinas Qualifier on Saturday, March 28th.
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