Brunswick Switches it Up to Win Ohio Girls Final
Brunswick Switches it Up to Win Ohio Girls Final
The Brunswick Valkyries came back twice to beat St. Joseph's Academy to win the Rugby Ohio girls state championship.
In a game that saw plenty of momentum shifts, Brunswick adjusted their normal pattern of play to handle what the Jaguars threw at them.
Early in the game it became clear that St. Joseph's would take time and space away from Brunswick's try-scoring outside backs. It worked, but to respond the Valkyries looked inward, sending prop Meelan Syed, hooker Reagan Merkel, and flanker Italia Duniec to run hard in the interior channels.
St. Joe's had to devote multiple players to make tackles—flanker Gianna Miller was especially active in this, but their midfield defense was also effective.
But repeated double-tackles by Joe's started to leave little gaps.
Brunswick opened the scoring after a series of St. Joseph penalties and then they were able to spin it wide to score in the corner. The Jaguars answered with a long break and while Brunswick wing Lily Thompson made a key tackle, St. Joseph's was able to keep the momentum going and punch it in at the corner. A brilliant touchline conversion from center Grace Roche made it 7-5.
A snappy loop move put Roche over for St. Joseph's second try, and took a 12-5 lead into the closing minutes of the first half. Despite a yellow card against St. Joe's, the Jaguars almost scored again before the break but it remained a seven-point lead.
Right after the opening of the second half, Brunswick broke through, punishing some SJA penalties and seeing Syed power down the field. Ultimately lock Sophia Thomas was over and with the conversion it was 12-12.
St. Joe's put Brunswick back into their 22 and with the Valkyries making some handling errors near their line, Joe's scored on an eightman pick from Maddie Hubbell, who was an offensive and defensive powerhouse for her team all day.
But the Valkyries now had their plan in hand—power hard through the middle until the Jaguars stopped them. They didn't make massive ground on each carry, but it was energy-sapping stuff and Brunswick marched their way down. With penalties in the rucks mostly going against the defending teams, turnovers were rare and carries by Thomas and her second-row mate Kyera Patterson put Thomas over.
Cadence Satow's conversion made it 19-17 for Brunswick.
Once again Brunswick came on aggressively. St. Joseph's defended doggedly once more and seemed to have stalled the attack at midfield. But that was when scrumhalf Marisa McCartin sniped through the a-gap and raced almost half the the field to score out wide.
That staked Brunswick to a converted-try lead at 24-17. St. Joseph's found some space after that, and with the wind hurting kicks and the lineouts not firing on all cylinders, the Jaguars opted to tap on the penalties. That worked out fine for them as Hubbell was over for one more try. The conversion was wide, however, so no tie—Brunswick 24, St. Joseph's 22.
All to play for in the closing minutes and plenty of excitement for a vocal crowd of about 500 ringing the field at St. Edward HS.
But it was Brunwick who would have the final say, as the forwards did the job once more. This time it was Autumn Zocsak, on as an impact reserve, who would score. That sealed it 29-22.
Check out this crowd as @BwickGirlsRugby scores the try that seals their @RugbyOhio girls title vs @SJAAthletics pic.twitter.com/HhptWNPLKw
— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) June 1, 2025
Overall, it was a rough end for a St. Joseph's team that had won most of their games by comfortable margins, including against Brunswick earlier in the season. But the Valkyries came with a different approach and a stronger mindset, not letting a deficit crater their confidence. All of that produced a state championship for the Valkyries.
