Endicott College and the Colorado School of Mines enter the national championship having shut out their regional opponents. These high scoring games landed the two of them, UW-Platteville, and East Stroudsburg University spots at the national semifinals Saturday, December 7 in Houston, Texas.
Endicott is looking to secure a second national championship title in three years, with their 2022 win and 2023 loss to St. Bonaventure in the national semifinals. Their win against Bentley (83-0) on and Colby (54-0) secured Head Coach Carly Baker’s 50th career XVs win. The Gulls Captain, Tess Merril, scored a majority of the tries for her team this weekend and helped secure their spot as repeat Regional Champions. The Gulls head to Houston leading all Division III teams in points scored with 608, and only allowing 58 during the regular season.
Colorado School of Mines faced Northern Michigan (55-0) on Saturday before taking home the West Regional Championship against North Dakota (62-0) Sunday. First year inside center Piper Lee was instrumental in securing both wins, scoring and assisting with almost half the tries earned by the team. The Orediggers dominated in Kansas City and came out of this weekend as strong contenders for the title of national champions.
The Platteville Pioneers traveled to Columbus, OH as Great Waters conference champions and 2023 national finalists. Their first match was a shutout against Loyola of Maryland (63-0) and while their second proved to be more challenging, they prevailed over Niagara (55-29) with neither giving up the fight until the end. Niagara had proved their mettle in an earlier match against the Allegheny champions Gannon, but Platteville’s high pressure offensive side won them the match.
East Stroudsburg matched up against Lee, two returning teams from the 2023 South regional playoffs. East Stroudsburg defeated Lee (61-10) before moving on to compete against Geneseo in the national quarterfinals. Geneseo entered the national quarterfinals after defeating Christopher Newport (34-7), ultimately losing to East Stroudsburg in double overtime (15-12).
Written by Alexandra Carter, Event Marketing Intern.
