A rainy day in Boyds, MD kicked off the women’s portion of the 2024 CRC Saturday. In the Women’s Premier Cup, victories including Brown over Minnesota (34-5) and a shut out by Army over Northeastern (34-0) to set the tone of the day early on. 

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Southern Nazarene’s Telesi Uhatafe proved yet again to be an on-field powerhouse after being named this spring’s All-Star Tournament MVP, scoring a try just 19 seconds into the Crimson Storm’s first match. Uhatafe and SNU fell early in the bracket to West Chester and repeat breakaway runner Sofia Lasonio. 

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Securing their spot in the Semifinals, American International College beat out Mount Saint Mary’s (19-5) and Bowdoin (12-5). The Yellowjackets were led by the defensive efforts of Keiani Pangelinan, as well as powerful offensive play by Ro’Elena Lagilagi. Tomorrow, for a chance to take home some hardware, AIC will play Army, paced so far by Yesenia Morales, a top try scorer on the day. 

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On the other side of the Premier Cup bracket, Brown will face off against Navy to kick off Sunday’s semifinal matches. The Bears started the day off with great, cohesive team play, but standout performances by Noelle Lewis (hat trick scorer against West Chester) and Nikki Lynch, whose defensive prowess seemed to intimidate any player in her line of sight. Sunday’s stadium field play starts at 11:00 a.m., concluding with the Premier Cup championship at 5:30 p.m. 

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