CAMBRIDGE, Mass – Harvard women's rugby kicked off the spring season with a tournament victory while playing host to Crimson 7s. The Crimson went undefeated on the day, eventually knocking off Army, 25-17, in the cup final. Harvard posted victories over West Chester University, American International College and Army in the pool play games before taking down Sacred Heart in the semifinal, 32-0, that would set up a rematch with the Black Knights for the title.
Pool Play Recap
The Crimson began its pool schedule matching up with West Chester University, and
Sofie Fella wasted no time announcing her return to action, tabbing the first try of the game just 45 seconds into the contest.
Jara Emtage-Cave made it a 10-0 game with a try, before a blistering run and try from
Brogan Mior just before the half to make it a 17-5 game at the break. Emtage-Cave would add a try in the second half as the Crimson saw out a 22-19 victory to begin pool play. The Harvard attack had a coming-out party in game two against American International, as the Yellow Jackets had no answer for the pace of
Sabrina Kim, who scored three tries in the contest. Pipkin book-ended the game with a pair of tries while
Sofia Hilger and
Nafanua Malietoa Fitisemanu each touched down for a score as the Crimson cruised to a 43-0 triumph.
Harvard matched up with a familiar foe in Army for its final pool game, and one that would ultimately decide the No. 1 seed in the pool. The Black Knights came out strong in the first half, tallying three tries in the first five minutes of the game, en route to a 15-0 halftime advantage. With little room to work with in making a comeback,
Sofie Fella was able to breakthrough for the Crimson with a try with five minutes remaining. Fella notched another score to make it a 15-10 game with just over a minute remaining, as it seemed the Crimson had run out of time to mount the comeback. However, with zeroes on the clock, Fitisemanu was able to gain possession and burst into the Army half to set up one final chance for the Crimson. The ball found its way to
Brogan Mior, who raced home to tie the game at 15 and set up a possible game-winning conversion. Newly-named captain,
Alex Pipkin, took the ball and knocked in the conversion to complete the improbable comeback for the Crimson.
Cup Semifinal and Final Recap
After securing the No. 1 seed in Pool B, the Crimson was matched up with Sacred Heart in its semifinal, with Army taking down Dartmouth in the other semifinal just before kickoff. Fella continued her fine form and got the Crimson out to an early lead, one in which it would never look back from. A try from
Elianne Sacher made it a 17-0 advantage for the Crimson at the half, as the Harvard defense made it difficult for the Pioneers to string together quality possessions.
Reese Morgan added a pair of tries in the second half to secure a 32-0 victory to reach the cup final.
After failing to score in the first half against the Black Knights earlier, Fella had no intentions of being stymied for a half again and got Harvard on the board just 20 seconds into the game. Fella would score again, followed by Emtage-Cave, as the Crimson mirrored the same 15-0 advantage that Army held in the first half earlier in the day. With 1:30 remaining in the half, Army seemed to have a breakthrough, but it was Fella who made the chase-down tackle to keep the Black Knights scoreless. Army would go on to find the try zone and knock in a conversion prior to a stoppage time try to make it a three-point game at the half. With Harvard holding a 15-12 lead in the second half, Mior shrugged off multiple defenders while taking it down the left sidelines, scoring her third try of the day and the most important try of the tournament for the Crimson. With its 20-12 lead, the Crimson secured the tournament victory with a try from Fitisemanu with just over two minutes remaining. Army added a last-second try to make it a 25-17 final score at Mignone Field.
Harvard Results
Pool B Games
Harvard 22, West Chester 19
Harvard 43, American International 0
Harvard 17, Army 15
Semifinal
Harvard 32, Sacred Heart 0
Final
Harvard 25, Army 17
Harvard Highlights
- Senior Sofie Fella led the Crimson with six tries scored on the day. Fella scored the opening try of the game for the Crimson in four games, including both play-off matchups which featured a score less than 20 seconds into the championship matchup.
- Sophomore Brogan Mior scored three tries on the day including a last-second score to tie the pool-game against Army, and the game-winning try in the final.
- Junior Alex Pipkin posted 29 points on the day between three tries and seven conversions, Pipkin knocked in a game-winning conversion with the last kick of the game versus Army.
- First-year Jara Emtage-Cave tabbed 20 points on the day, scoring two tries against West Chester before scoring in the semifinal and finals matchup.
- Sophomore Nafanua Malietoa Fitisemanu tabbed two tries across the tournament while making one of the most important runs of the day in the build-up to Mior's game-tying try against Army.
- The Crimson secured its first Crimson 7s tournament victory in program history, after previously tabbing five runner-up finishes through 2015-19.
- Harvard has now won 10 of its last 11 sevens contests dating back to 2019, including six straight victories at Mignone Field. The Crimson has now won two tournaments in a row that it has played host to (2019 Ivy 7s Championship).
Up Next
Harvard will return to action when it plays host to the Ivy 7s Championship on Saturday, April 23rd as the Crimson looks to defend its title from 2019. Schedules and pools for the tournament will be announced at a later date.
