Northeastern, Colorado Mesa on to CRAA WD1 Final

12.01.2023

colorado mesa vs uconn 2023 craa wd1 sf 1

Northeastern and Colorado Mesa will play for the CRAA Women's D1 college championship after both won entertaining and competitive semifinals Friday in Charlotte.

Northeastern scored early through speedy and elusive fullback Kourtney Bichotte-Dunner and then absorbed a long period of attack from Air Force before going the length of the field phase-by-phase to score again. That 12-0 lead was hugely important before the two teams traded tries back-and-forth the rest of the way. Northeastern was a little more savvy and finished a little bit better, and scored late to put the game away 41-22.

For the Huskies, lock Molly McAlevey was a hugely powerful runner and flanker Hannah Wilker laid in some massive hits to stymie the Air Force attack. The Northeastern backs were tough to contain with outside center Victoia Izsa especially effective.

Air Force is a young team with not a single player who played rugby in high school. Several were only in their third month of playing. And while scrumhalf Sara Scrapchansky was a constant worker around the fringes and found gaps, and prop and co-captain Bella Mullally got good go-forward, Air Force found it difficult to break through tackles out wide.

Photos by Alex Goff

Northeastern vs Air Force in the 2023 CRAA Women D1 semifinal. Photo Alex Goff.

UConn and Colorado Mesa played a fascinating game that was a clash of contrasts. UConn looked to win the interior battle, but also had powerful runners out wide, paced by wing Parker Pretty and with No. 8 Margaret Devlin working hard in the middle.

Mesa, for their part, flung the ball around with abandon, making offloads and loopy passes and looking to play a little hot potato and score out wide. Early on it clearly seemed to be an approach that favored UConn. The Huskies scored early, and after surviving a Mesa attack, broke through with Vanessa Santana and Madelyn Kelly to make it 12-0. Soon, using some smart kicking to garner territory, UConn was up 17-0.

Mesa finally scored out wide, and they kept their game plan going. Prop Nallely Robles-Velazquez was a thundering runner in traffic, forcing Connecticut to worry about her. But then quickly halfback Ryleigh Blatnik would work the ball to the edge. Ellen Rickerd, Carly Scheck, and Elise Metzger were all a threat to score and they could pass, too. Mesa scored again, and then got a penalty try for a high tackle while going in to score.

That made it 19-17 Mesa as halftime came, and it stayed Mesa's game after that. CMU blew through up the middle and out wide and blew the game open, eventually running out 45-22 winners. Playing with the idea of offloading, either off the deck or while being wrapped up, and playing with the idea of expecting those offloads, Mesa kept the game moving and tested UConn's depth.

After falling behind 17-0 Mesa went on a 45-5 tear, unleashing an adventurous style that now has them in the final.

Colorado Mesa vs UConn in the 2023 CRAA Women D1 College semifinal. Alex Goff photo.