WOMEN'S RUGBY

BRUNSWICK, Maine - Playing a dramatic rematch of the New England Championships, the Norwich women's rugby team defeated New Hampshire, 22-19, to claim the Northeast Championship. This is a back-to-back accomplishment for the "Wick", who will enter the National Elite-8 as the No. 3 seed in the nation this coming April.

With her dominant play at the breakdown, aggressive tackling and game breaking runs, senior flanker Charmaine Morris was selected as the 2007 Northeast Rugby Championship Tournament MVP.

Another beautiful Sunday afternoon in Brunswick saw the Cadets open the scoring when junior wing Ashley de Grasse turned the corner on her opposite number and raced in for the try. Sophomore wing Clarissa Wynn converted the kick and the score was 7-0.

The Wildcats stormed right back and scored a converted try of their own to level the score at 7-7. The half ended after some great attack and defense by both sides.

With the score tied, the early second half battle was back and forth with a number of shoestring tackles and game saving defensive plays. Junior center Ashley Lally finally broke through the Wildcat defense and sliced, swerved and sped her way to the try line to put the "Wick" ahead. Wynn converted and Norwich led 14-7.

Once again, New Hampshire came back, as the Wildcats converted another try. The conversion was missed this time and the Cadets led 14-12.

After a series of Norwich attack, New Hampshire was penalized inside its own 22-meter line and Norwich elected to kick for the penalty points. Wynn was successful, adding three points to the score and bringing the match score to 17-12.

With 10 minutes to play and the "Wick" clinging to a five-point lead, New Hampshire's inside center found a gap through the middle of the "Wick" defense and cut her way in for the score. New Hampshire converted, and for the first time all season, the Cadets trailed their opponents 17-19.

With less than three minutes of regulation time on the scoreboard, Norwich began to march its way up the pitch towards the New Hampshire line. A couple of good runs were protected by some committed rucking at the breakdown and with less than a minute to play, the "Wick" found themselves inside the opposition 22. A number of chances presented themselves as time continued to run, but it wasn't until injury time (42 minutes into the half), that de Grasse found herself nearing the corner of the try-zone with a couple Wildcats to beat.  De Grasse managed to fight her way through the defenders and touchdown for the go ahead points.

"Wow," said Norwich head coach Austin Hall. "It was a great honor to see two evenly-matched, hard fighting teams out there today. That was the most intensely contested rugby match I've ever seen. New Hampshire deserves a lot of credit for bringing its best, and the Norwich women have accomplished a phenomenal feat. They believed in their abilities and refused to give in when trailing with little time to play.  I'm so proud of this team and the way the stuck it out over the course of the season. We are going to catch our breath now, but there is still work to be done as we represent our region in the Nationals this spring. I want to thank everybody who has made this season a success."

With the win, the Cadets finish the season with a perfect 15-0 record. They are ranked No. 1 in the nation by erugbynews.com and will receive the No. 3 seed in the USA Rugby Elite-8. Their first match at the National tournament will be against the first-place finisher from the Mid-Atlantic region.