GRR: FIU
Middle Tennessee State University exacted some revenge over Florida International Saturday, beating their SIRC rivals for a place in the national DIAA quarterfinals.
In a meeting of two undefeated teams, Florida International University went down to a 24-14 loss to the University of Central Florida in the first game of the New Year in Florida Women's DI college play.
FIU’s forwards were no match for UCF’s dominating aggression in set pieces, and the UCF Knights ultimately quieted the FIU Panthers.
As the fall season comes to a close, there are already glimpses of the action that awaits in the spring. West Coast teams have played each other at tournaments like Scrum by the Sea and Stanford 7s, and the Pacific Mountain Conference has held North Division games.
Despite the fact that Florida International went into this past weekends game 2-0, and their opponents were 1-1, there was an air of great importance to the game.
You see, that 1-1 team was Central Florida, the DIAA national champs in 2013 and 2014, and the runners up this past spring. If FIU was going to be taken seriously, they needed to win.
Florida International returns to the spring final four for the second consecutive year, but the post-season appearance is more than a benchmark for the DII team. FIU has something to say about women’s rugby in Florida, and it’s letting its victories do the talking.