ATLANTA, Ga. The top talent in women’s college rugby was on display Saturday at the Women’s All-Star Championships at Silverbacks Park. Through three rounds of pool play for most teams, just two remain unbeaten – the defending champion Lone Star Armadillos in Pool A and the debutant North Atlantic Collegiate Rugby conference in Pool B.
Sunday brings one more round of the group stage, with the top two from each pool advancing to the semifinals. The Rising Stars competition is down to the semifinals, with the Mid-Atlantic taking on the Great Waters and the North Atlantic battling Eastern Penn.
Several players had outstanding performances, including:
1. Leah Lockerman - The senior Texas Tech wing tied for the day-one lead with five tries, helping the Armadillos to a 3-0 start. Her combination of pace and power led to two tries each against the Midwest and Allegheny, and one versus Great Waters. Her great length was tough for tacklers to deal with, as she delivered several effective stiff arms.
2. Mya Yourczek - The Midwest finished the day 1-2, but the sophomore Minnesota flyhalf was a bright spot, dotting down five tries. She scored the Midwest’s only points in the loss to the defending champion Armadillos, and she dotted down twice each against the Allegheny and Great Waters. Yourczek routinely put herself in the position to finish off team tries with stellar support lines, but also occasionally knifed through the defensive line with a hard charge.
3. Maurina Street - Scoring seven tries on day one, the University of South Dakota No. 8 leads the Rising Stars competition in points and tries. She kicked two conversions, to boot, tallying 39 points through three games. She scored three tries in the Prairie States’ lone win on day one.
4. Loren Henich - The Senior University of Illinois-Chicago scrumhalf led the Great Waters with four tries Saturday. She was held out of the try zone in the loss to the Lone Stars, but scored in every other match, including twice in the 36-7 defeat of Florida. She was equally impressive in defeat, hustling over 50 meters to catch an offload from a teammate caught on a breakaway, scoring the Great Waters’ only points in the loss to the Midwest.
5. Mychal Glover - Scoring a try in each of the South Atlantic’s four matches Saturday, the Junior Kennesaw State scrumhalf ties Wilt for the try lead in Pool B. She played an integral role for SARC, accounting for 40-percent of the team’s points on day one and threatening the perimeter of every defense she came up against.
Tune in tomorrow on National Collegiate Rugby's YouTube and The Rugby Network with a TRN+ Ticket.
