Wheeling, W. Va. - After starting their spring schedule strong at the Valley 7's, the Wheeling University Women's Rugby team (7-2) took the pitch for their second tournament of the season. They traveled over to regional rival Walsh University for the Cavalier 7's and, for the second tournament in a row, the Cardinals advanced to the tournament championship match. They would finish the day 4-1 overall, finishing second in the tournament and first among the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) teams in the field.
Game One: Wheeling 22, Northern Iowa 7
The Cardinals opened up pool play with their first match-up against Northern Iowa, and it was one of the captains that got things going. Junior Alexis Dallas would power her way up the middle of the field, diving across the try line, before a missed kick had the Cardinals in front 5-0. On the next possession, Wheeling came right back on the attack, this time sending the ball outside to Payton Olivas. She made her way around a pair of Northern Iowa Defenders and, 10 minutes into the contest, the Cardinals had a 10-0 lead. Before the halftime break, Northern Iowa would make things interesting, getting across the try line and hitting the conversion kick to make it a 10-7 Cardinal lead as the teams headed for the halftime break.
As they came out of the break, the Cardinal defense would take the field first and forced a turnover that got the ball back to the Cardinals. They once again used the outside as senior Liz Sinatra took a pass and sprinted for the corner. She dove across the try line and the Cardinals made it a two-score game at 15-7. The Cardinals defense was just getting started on their big day, holding Northern Iowa off the board in the second half, but they would need one more score to seal the win. It would come in the final minute of regulation as Shannon Whypji got the ball in her hands. She would make her way down the middle of the field, and dove across the try line for her first of the day. After missing each of the first three conversion kick opportunities, the Cardinals called on Olivas to change things up. She would send the ball through the uprights and the Cardinals wrapped up a 22-7 win.
Wheeling would score four tries by four different players, with Payton Olivas leading the way. She finished with one try while making her only conversion kick attempt to finish with seven points. Alexis Dallas, Liz Sinatra, and Shannon Whypji each added five points to the effort as the Cardinals started pool play 1-0.
Game Two: Wheeling 33, Aquinas 10
It was a match-up between two former Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC) schools in game two as the Cardinals continued pool play against Aquinas College. Aquinas would get the ball first and kicked through a penalty kick to take a 3-0 lead before the Cardinal offense went on the attack. Wheeling would score the next three tries, with Shannon Whypji getting the party started. She scored her second try of the day overall, and a conversion kick from Payton Olivas would make it a 7-3 Cardinal lead early. The Cardinals would end up scoring on each of their next two possessions, using the sidelines to their advantage. Liz Sinatra would be first, scoring her second try of the day, and Emerson Callegari got on the scoresheet for the first time with the second score. Olivas would go 1-2 on the ensuing conversion kicks and Wheeling went into halftime with a 19-3 advantage.
As they came out for the second half, it was the freshman Callegari that kept the Cardinal offense going. After the Cardinals picked up a stop on Aquinas's first possession, Callegari would duplicate the final score of the first half with the first score in the second half. Olivas would also duplicate her effort, sending the conversion kick through the uprights, and the Cardinals would extend their lead to 26-3. Aquinas would get on the board for their first try of the day after a Cardinal turnover, but the game had already been decided sitting at 26-10. The Cardinals would end regulation with the last score of the day, getting the ball to Vanessa Aguilera. She would cross the try line for her first career 7's try, and Callegari would come on for the conversion kick. After missing on her first three attempts of the night, she sailed the ball through the uprights, bringing the game to its final score of 33-10.
Leading the game two effort for the Cardinals was Emerson Callegari, who totaled 12 points in the effort. She would finish with two tries while going 1-1 on conversions to round out a strong showing. Peyton Olivas would finish right behind her, finishing with six points by going 3-4 on conversions, while Liz Sinatra, Shannon Whypji, and Vanessa Aguilera each added five points to round out the scoring.
Game Three: Wheeling 50, Michigan State 0
The final game of pool play would be the biggest of the day for the Cardinals, with both offense and defense clicking on all cylinders. On the offensive side, the Cardinals scored a tournament-high 50 points, spreading the ball around between six different players to get across the try line. It was a tale of two halves, with Emerson Callegari getting across the try line twice in the first half, and Joelle Taylor adding two of her own in the second half. The pair would account for almost half the Cardinal offense, finishing with a combined 20 points. The final four tries would be scored by four different players, with the starters setting the tone. Nadia Richards got things going with the first ty of the game, while Kylie Baigent was the other Cardinal to get on the board during the first half. The Cardinals went into the locker room with a 26-0 lead, and more of the same came in the second half.
It would be Ella Barker to start the second half scoring with her first try of the day, and Jasmine Burley would score the final Cardinal try, her first of her collegiate career. In the kicking game Payton Olivas would take the first half duties, while Barker took the kicking duties for the second half. In the first, Olivas would attempt four conversion kicks, finishing 3-4 on those attempts, while Barker attempted four in the second half, finishing 2-4 on those attempts. The Cardinals would finish with 24 points in the second half and walked away with the 50-0 victory. It was also the first shutout of the season for the defense, who didn't allow Michigan State to get over the midfield line on the day.
Leading the effort for the Cardinals was Joelle Taylor and Emerson Callegari, who each finished with two tries in the effort. Peyton Olivas would finish with six points in the kicking game, while Ella Barker finished with nine points, hitting two conversions and one try. Nadia Richards, Kylie Baigent, and Jasmine Burley would each finish with five points to round out the effort. With the win, the Cardinals finished 3-0 in pool play, and advanced to the Cup semifinals.
Game Four: Wheeling 33, Michigan 7
The Cardinal's first postseason match came against the University of Michigan, and it was once again one of the captains setting the tone. That captain would be senior Ema Tai, who got across the try line for the first time on the day to start the game. Emerson Callegari would come on for the Conversion Kick and sailed the ball through the uprights to give Wheeling an early 7-0 lead. After finding her groove in the kicking game, Emerson Callegari kept that success going on the pitch, scoring a try on the next Cardinal possession. She completed her own conversion, and Wheeling was staked to a 14-0 lead early. The Wolverine defense clamped down over the final two minutes of the quarter, keeping Wheeling off the board. They were able to sneak across the try line in the waning seconds of the first half and the teams went into the locker room with Wheeling leading 14-7.
The Cardinals looked to get the momentum back as they came out of the locker room, and they got the ball to Shannon Whypji. Whypji worked her way to the sidelines and dove across the try line for the first score of the half. Callegari would kick through her third straight conversion kick and the Cardinals jumped out to a 21-7 advantage. After giving up the try before half, the Cardinal defense clamped down the rest of the way, keeping Michigan off the board. Callegari got across the try line again in the second half, marking her third multi try game of the tournament, while Whypji scored her second try of the day to round out the day. Callegari would make her own conversion, and a miss from Payton Olivas would round out the day.
Leading the semifinal effort for the Cardinals was Emerson Callegari, who finished with 18 of the team's 33 points in the effort. She got across the try line twice on the day, while going 4-4 on conversion kicks to round out the day. Shannon Whypji finished right behind her with 10 points on two tries, while Ema Tai rounded out the scoring with five points. The Cardinals would advance to the Cup Championships, where they faced their first non-NCR team in Davenport.
Game Five: Davenport 29, Wheeling 0
In their final game of the day, the Cardinals would battle non-NCR opponent Davenport, seeking their first 7's Tournament championship of the season. However, the Panthers defense played strong throughout the day, not allowing the Cardinals across the try line. Wheeling would play strong defense of their own in the first half, holding Davenport to just 14 points, heading to the locker room trailing 14-0. In the second half, Davenport closed things out with 15 points to round out the day and the Cardinals would take their first loss of the day.
The Cardinals would finish the tournament 4-1 overall while also finishing as the best NCR team in the field. Leading the Cardinals in scoring on the day was Emerson Callegari, who scored 40 points between the five games, including three multi-try efforts. She would finish with six tries across five matches, while finishing 5-8 on conversion kicks to round out the effort.
The Wheeling University Women's Rugby team returns to action on Saturday, March 28th, when they host the Nail City 7's at Bishop Schmitt Field.
