NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The seventh-ranked Norwich University women's rugby team will be a part of the featured 2024 Friday Night Rugby match across the country in the United States on Friday, Oct. 25, traveling to third-ranked United States Coast Guard Academy for a 7:00 p.m. showdown that will be livestreamed on The Rugby Network, presented by National Collegiate Rugby (NCR).
The livestream will be
available directly from The Rugby Network. Viewers will need to create an account, but there is no charge.
"We are really looking forward to starting this annual military match-up and even more excited that it is the Friday Night Rugby feature match," said Head Coach
Baylee Annis '14. "Norwich and Coast Guard have not played each other since 2011, and it is a rivalry we are so looking forward to rekindling. We are expecting a dynamic game from a fit side and are very ready for the challenge. Big thanks to National Collegiate Rugby for organizing this match and to Coast Guard for hosting. Make sure you tune in for the match of the season!"
The Cadets enter fresh off a thrilling 27-23 victory over 10th-ranked University of New Hampshire this past Saturday for Senior Day, paced by five different scorers in
Katelyn Looney (Weymouth, Mass.),
Octavia Crawford (Shelburne Falls, Mass.),
Shannon Hobbs (Burlington, N.C.),
Katherine Suarez (Gloucester City, N.J.), and
Carlyan Vigbedor (Centreville, Va.), with the offense rounded out by a successful conversion kick from
Madeline Ortiz (Lancaster, Calif.).
Coast Guard, meanwhile, recently shut out Providence College, 59-0, to trail just Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Vassar College in the NCR Division II national rankings. The Cadets jumped from ninth to seventh after their win over UNH, and own a resume that includes a 65-7 shellacking of the University of Maine and a 34-34 tie with sixth-ranked Roger Williams University.
The game marks just the second women's rugby Friday Night match in the United States to be featured by the NCR, following an intrastate clash between the University of Texas and Texas A&M University two weeks ago. It also serves as the penultimate Friday Night Rugby showdown of the year, with the schedule set to close next week for the men's rugby Big Rivers Conference Semifinals.
Both teams last met in 2011, battling each other twice during October and both resulting in shut-out victories for the Cadets. Norwich took down the Bears, 53-0, on Oct. 8 in Stonington, Conn., before cruising past Coast Guard, 41-0, in the North-East Rugby Football Union (NERFU) Semifinals in a frigid and muddy atmosphere at Norwich on Oct. 30.
The match-up serves as a highlight in what has been a celebratory year for the women's rugby program, after joining the Rugby Northeast Conference within the NCR in early February. The Cadets' success comes in the midst of the program recognizing and honoring its 40th anniversary as a varsity program, which included the official opening of a historical exhibit at the Norwich Rugby Clubhouse during last month's Homecoming Weekend festivities.
After Friday's duel, the Cadets will look ahead to the Vermont Jamboree, hosted by Vermont State University Castleton, on Sunday, Nov. 3.
Graphic provided by National Collegiate Rugby.
