Wheeling, W. Va. - As they entered the 2025 15's season, the Wheeling University Women's Rugby team (1-0) knew there would be a target on their backs after winning the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) 15's National Title in their inaugural season. On Saturday, the Cardinals took a road trip to State College, Pennsylvania as the title defense began against Penn State. The offense showed no signs of slowing down from last season, and the defense was as stingy as ever, as the Cardinals walked away with an 87-0 win to open the season. 

After a five-minute back-and-forth between the two teams, it was last year's points leader, Bella Gullatta who would get the scoring started. She lined up a penalty kick in the 5th minute and sailed it through to give the Cardinals a 3-0 advantage. She would duplicate that effort five minutes later, and the Cardinals were staked to a 6-0 lead in the early going. It was the start of a big day for the Cardinal's senior Fly Half, who led the way with 37 of her team's 87 points on the day. She would finish 3-3 in penalty kicks on the day, hitting her final in the game's 36th minute, while adding a 9-12 (75%) mark on conversions. She would top the day off by scoring her first two tries of the 15's season, one in the 30th minute and one in the 80th minute, as she helped lift the Cardinals to a season-opening victory. 

It was an all-around effort for the Cardinals throughout the afternoon, as some of their newest players made their presence felt. Following Gullatta's back-to-back Penalty kicks to start the scoring, sophomore Emerson Callegari would go across the try line for back-to-back scores. The first came in the 19th minute and accounted for the first Cardinal try scored in the 2025 15's season. After a missed conversion, Callegari was back just two minutes later, going across the try line once again and giving the Cardinals a 16-0 lead. Gullatta would sail through her first conversion kick of the day, and the Cardinals held an 18-0 lead halfway through the first half. Callegari would finish her day with three tries, scoring her final in the 87th minute of play, as she put up 15 points of her own. It would be Gullatta and Callegari dominating the first half, scoring 28 combined points, before Tamzin Boyce got into the try zone to end the half. The Cardinals would lead 33-0 after one half, but were just getting things started. 

Callegari was one of two Cardinals to hit the three-try mark on the day, and in the second half it was senior Shannon Whypji who matched her mark. Whypji would get the second half scoring started with a try at the 47-minute mark that extended the Wheeling lead to 38-0. It would be the first of three tries in the half for the senior, who scored in both the 67th and 70th minutes. She accounted for three of the Cardinals' first five tries in the second half, helping to extend their lead even further to 71-0. Whypji is playing in her first 15's season with the Cardinals, after joining the group during 7's season last spring, and got off to a hot start on the pitch. The other two Cardinals to score tries over the first 30 minutes of the new half were Byce, who brought her point total to 10 on the day, and Alexis Dallas, who scored her first try of the new 15's season. As the Cardinal's lead continued to increase, the Cardinals began to use the entirety of their travel roster to round out the final 10 minutes of play. 

The first of those players to take advantage of her opportunity was freshman Nei Nei Taupule, who made her collegiate debut on the pitch. In the 75th minute, Taupule would find her way across the try line for her first collegiate try and pushed the Cardinal lead to 76-0. Gullatta followed with the conversion as the Oceanside, California native put her name in the box score as she took advantage of her opportunity. Callegari's third try and Gullatta's second try of the day would round out the scoring, and Gullatta would kick through the final two conversions to get the team to the 87-point mark. It was the 7th time in the team's first 13 15's matches, dating back to last season, that the Cardinals had gone over the 50-point mark, as they started 2025 with a bang. 

The Cardinal's big offensive day was led by Bella Gullatta, who scored two tries, added three penalty kicks, and went 9-12 on conversion kicks. She set a new career-high with 37 points on the night as she started 2025 strong. Emerson Callegari and Shannon Whypji followed behind her with 15 points each, scoring three tries, while Tamzin Boyce added two tries in the effort. Alexis Dallas and Nei Nei Taupule rounded out the scoring with five points each to round out the big day. While the offense was scoring, the defense did their part, recording its first shutout of the season. It was the team's sixth shutout in two seasons with Head Coach Ken Pape highlighting the need for a strong defensive game. 

The Wheeling University Women's Rugby team returns to action on Saturday, September 6th, when they travel to Davenport with kick-off at 10 AM.