Wheeling, W. Va. – Throughout the 2025 spring 7's season, Head Coach Ken Pape has set up a challenging schedule set to prepare his girls for the 2025 Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) National 7's. The Wheeling University Women's Rugby team continues that tough road schedule when they head to the St. Bonaventure 7's Saturday in St. Bonaventure, New York. Several of the same teams that went to the Brown 7's will be in action as the team looks for a bounce back weekend on the road.
The Cardinals are coming off a 2-2 showing at the Brown 7's Tournament, playing a mixture of National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) and National Intercollegiate Rugby (NIRA) opponents a week ago. They began the day against NIRA's Sacred Heart University and earned a 17-7 win to start off the day strong. As the day moved on, the team would take on their nemesis so far this spring AIC and the Yellow Jacket's offense was strong once again. The Cardinals would score one try on the day, but they ended up falling to the Yellow Jackets 31-7 to even their record to 31-7. The Cardinals needed a bounce back and would get just that as the team took host Brown University to Sudden Death. The Cardinals would get the deciding try, winning 31-26, before falling to Penn State 19-14 to bring their run to an end at 2-2.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was captain Alexis Dallas, who scored four tries across the four matches, totaling 20 points. Dallas's biggest effort would come against the host Brown University, where she scored two tries, including one to start the second half that would give the Cardinals the lead. Dallas would score at least one try in three of the four games for the Cardinals, and scored her third multi-try game of 7's season against Brown. Along with her scoring, Dallas has been a force to be reckoned with on the defensive side of the ball, serving as the Cardinal's leading tackler throughout the season. Fresh off her Ma Sorensen Award nominee, Dallas has been a big player for the Cardinals during 7's season, continuing her success from 15's.
The Cardinals would also see the return of their 15's points leader Bella Gullatta, who missed the first two tournaments due to injury. Gullatta would total 13 points across the team's four matches, finishing with one try, while hitting four conversion kicks on the afternoon. Her biggest showing came in the opening win against Sacred Heart, when she scored her first try of 7's, and followed that up with her first conversion kick of the day. Gullatta was automatic in the kicking game during 15's season and looks to continue that success on Sunday. Marissa Hudson was the other Cardinal kicker on the day, finishing with three conversion kicks across the four matches, Hudson has been handling the kicking duties for the Cardinals early on in the season and looks to be a complimentary piece to Gullatta in the kicking game down the stretch.
As the Cardinals play through their final 7's tournaments of the regular season, they will continue to face tough competition. With their spot in the 2025 CRC National 7's already secured, the Cardinals are looking to sharpen their skills against the best teams in the region. They have already seen several NIRA teams during the season, and have been challenged with three greuling matches against AIC already this season. With another National Championship in their goals for the 7's season, the Cardinals hope that the tough competition they face now will prepare them for what they will see on the national championship level.
The Details
The St. Bonaventure 7's are set to kick-off on Sunday, March 30th, with first matches set to begin around 11 AM. Stay tuned to wucardinals.com for updates throughout the day.
