Landisville, PA. – After earning a split of their pool play on the opening day of competition at the Frostbite 7's, the Wheeling University Women's Rugby team (3-3) was back for four more games on day two of competition. The Cardinals would make it to the third place match and ended the day with a 27-7 win over West Chester. The team would go 2-2 on the day against a wide range of competition as they completed the program's first-ever 7's tournament.
Game One: Wheeling 52, Walsh 0
The Cardinals kicked off the day against their regional rival Walsh University and were off and running on the offensive side. Jemmely Rivera would get the offense going, scoring the first try of the day. The first conversion kick of the day from Marissa Hudson was good and the Cardinals would take a 7-0 lead. Ema Tai would be next on the board, with her first try of the day and Marissa Hudson would hit her second conversion kick of the day to extend the Cardinal lead to 14-0. The Cardinal defense continued their success from day one, holding the Cavaliers off the board in the first half and allowing the Cardinal offense to work. Alli Davis, Alexis Dallas, and Liz Sinatra would each get on the board before the end of the half and Hudson nailed all three conversion kicks to send Wheeling into halftime with a 35-0 advantage.
As the teams broke from the locker room, Davis would get across the try line for the second time on the day. The conversion kick was unsuccessful and the Cardinals lead sat at 40-0. The newest Cardinal Shannon Whipkey would make her presence known, scoring the first try of her Wheeling career on the next possession. Hudson added her first successful conversion kick of the new half and the Cardinals lead rose to 47-0. The final try for the Cardinals came courtesy of Tamzin Boyce, who got across the try line for the second time during 7's season, and brought the score to 50. The Cardinal defense would close out the offense with one final stop and the Cardinals closed the book on a 52-0 win to start the day.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Alli Davis, who finished with two tries and 10 points on the day. It was her first multi-try effort of 7's season as she led the Cardinals on the pitch. Six other Cardinals got in on the action, with Jemmely Rivera, Ema Tai, Alexis Dallas, Liz Sinatra, and Shannon Whipkey would each score a try. In the kicking game Marissa Hudson would go 6-8 on conversion kicks on the day to finish with 12 points to round out the scoring effort.
Game two: Penn State 17, Wheeling 12
The second game of the day paired Wheeling with Penn State as they wrapped up pool play. The Nittany Lions would get on the board first, scoring a try in the opening minutes of play to take a 7-0 lead. As the Cardinals got the ball, they had a response of their own as Riley Bonds moved down the field and across the try line. Marissa Hudson would line up for the kick, but it missed the target and Wheeling would trail 7-5. Penn State would add one more try before the half was out and the Cardinals went into halftime trailing 12-5 after a missed conversion kick. As they came out for the second half, the Cardinals offense would get a score back, as Alexis Dallas made her way across the try line. Hudson would step in and send the kick through the uprights to tie the game at 12-12.
It would come down to the final possession of the day and it would be the Nittany Lions that took advantage. They crossed the try line in the waning seconds of the game and went on to win 17-12. The Cardinals would score two tries on the day, with Riley Bonds and Alexis Dallas each crossing the try line. Marissa Hudson would take on all the kicking duties in game two, finishing 1-2 on conversion kicks. With the win, the Cardinals moved on to the playoffs round of the bracket, where they would meet up with the team that beat them the day before, AIC.
Game Three: AIC 30, Wheeling 21
After being shutout the day before against AIC, the Cardinals would again face the Yellow Jackets on the playoffs as they looked to rebound. The Yellow Jacket offense would get on the board first, taking a 7-0 lead, but the Cardinals were able to respond. Ema Tai was first to get on the board for the Cardinals, scoring her second try of the day and made it a 7-5 game. Marissa Hudson would come on to attempt the conversion kick and the Cardinals would even the score at 7-7. However, the Yellow Jackets continued to keep their foot on the gas pedal, scoring two more tires in the half. However, they would miss both of their conversion kick attempts to make it a 19-7 score heading into halftime. The Cardinals broke through and were looking to continue making their push into the second half.
Wheeling would get the start in the new half and got on the board as Alexis Dallas got into the try zone to make it a 19-12 game. Dallas would take the kicking duties in the second half, and sailed it though to get Wheeling within five at 19-14. AIC would add their final two tries on their next two possessions, going 1-2 on conversion kicks as they got to the 30-point mark, making it a 30-14 affair. Wheeling would be the ones to score the final try of the night as Marlies Garrison would score her first try of the day. Dallas came in for the conversion kick and sailed it through to bring the game to its final score of 30-21. The Yellow Jackets would stop the Cardinals on their final push, knocking the Cardinals to the third place match.
It would be Alexis Dallas who was the leading scorer for the Cardinals, putting up nine points on the day. She would finish with one try and two successful conversion kicks as she scored in all three games so far for the Cardinals. The other two tries for the Cardinals came from Marlies Garrison and Ema Tai, who each finished with five points on the day. Hudson would add two more tallies for the Cardinals rounding out the scoring effort. The Cardinals would head to the third place match as they got set to battle West Chester.
Game Four: Wheeling 27, West Chester 7
As they entered their final game of the day, the Cardinals would once again get started early as Alli Davis scored her third try of the day in the opening minutes of play. Tamzin Boyce sent through the conversion kick and Wheeling would take a 7-0 lead early on. Jemmely Rivera was next on the board for the Cardinals, followed by a missed conversion kick and Davis would get on the board a second time. A pair of missed conversion kicks made it a 17-0 advantage with the first half about halfway over. The Cardinals would get on the board one more time before the half was over as Alexis Dallas made her way across the try line to push Wheeling's lead to 22-0. Dallas would attempt the conversion kick and ended up missing the kick to send the team into the locker room with that 22-0 lead.
West Chester would score their first, and only, try of the game in the second half cutting the Cardinal lead to 22-7. However, the Cardinal defense dominated the rest of the game, shutting them down over the final seven minutes of play aside from that score. Wheeling would add one more tally to their scorebook, with Jill Stewart getting across the try line. However, the final conversion kick would be missed and the Cardinals would go on to win by the final score of 22-7. Alli Davis would pick up her second multi-try day for the Cardinals, scoring two tries on the contest and finishing with 10 points. Alexis Dallas, Jemmely Rivera, and Jill Stewart would score the other three tries and finish with five points each. Tamzin Boyce would score the final two points of the day to round out the Cardinal success.
The Wheeling University Women's Rugby team returns to action on Sunday, March 9th, when they host the Wheeling 7's.
