Courtesy of Brian Beard

Bowdoin women’s rugby (1–1) secured a hard-fought win over West Chester University (0–3) at home this past Saturday in a game that came down to the wire. Led by strong performances from both team veterans and newcomers, the Polar Bears fought their way through a gritty match and put themselves in the win column for the first time this season.

The Polar Bears came out of the gate strong, taking advantage of sloppy West Chester miscues and racking up eight points before the break. The second half followed the success of the first, with Bowdoin continuing to score; a Maddy Kosmoski ’27 try capped off a 13-0 run and put the Polar Bears in the driver’s seat.

However, West Chester clawed their way back, putting up 17 consecutive points. With seven and a half minutes remaining, Bowdoin found themselves down four. The Polar Bears systematically worked their way down the pitch with a series of punishing carries culminating in a successful try by Jesse Vanston ’27. In the waning moments, the defense held firm, and Bowdoin escaped with an 18-17 victory. The win was the first start for some first years on the team, including Liv Groth ’30.

“During those last minutes, my mindset, along with the team’s, was to play our game and to do what we do best. We pushed hard on offense and made confident strides till we got ahead, followed by careful and strong defense,” Groth wrote in an email to the Orient.

Fullback Amanda Korfin ’29 added that the team focused on fundamentals down the stretch.

“Especially just after West Chester scored, I just remember thinking that we absolutely had to keep possession of the ball and keep it secure when going into contact. I knew that if we did that, we would eventually be able to score,” Korfin wrote in an email to the Orient.

The team beat West Chester in the regular season last year and then fell to them in the semi-finals of the NIRA Division II Tournament, making this rematch highly anticipated by the Polar Bears.

“I would definitely consider [West Chester] our DII rival at this point,” Head Coach Laura Miller said. “They’re pretty even in terms of level of competition. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw them again in the postseason. And I think that’s really exciting for us. They’re a really good team. They’re strong. They’re very physical.”

Groth emphasized how even-matched the two teams were, as opposed to the U.S. Naval Academy (1–2), the Polar Bears’ first opponents of the season.

“Compared to Navy, West Chester was more physically like us, though both teams had significant size advantages. Overall, they were an evener match up and gave us a fight we felt more involved in, which, to me, heightened the intensity,” Groth wrote.

The win puts women’s rugby at .500 on the season after an 18-32 loss to a Division I Navy team in the season opener. With multiple road trips on the horizon, the team hopes to carry momentum from Saturday’s win with them.

“[Frostburg State University (1–2)] will be good,” Miller said. “We don’t expect anything crazy, but we know that they’re going to come out ready to try to beat us. So we have to show up on the day ready to win, just like any other game. And then we play [Davenport University (3–0)], and that’s going to be a big travel event. So we kind of have to do a lot of mental preparation just to be on the bus for a long time and play a really good team when we get out there.”

Expectations for the Polar Bears are high this year after past successes. Last April, women’s rugby captured their second consecutive National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) Division III 7’s championship. It was the program’s fifth NIRA Division III title.

“We do expect to get to a postseason,” Miller said. “The team very much wants to host a home semifinal, so we’re trying to compete to get a spot to basically be high enough ranked that we get to host a home semifinal.”

Women’s rugby is still in the midst of adjusting to a transition to Division II competition. While the team captured the aforementioned Division III title last season, it was their first year playing against DII teams. Miller noted this when asked about the mindset for the remainder of the season.

“There are really good teams in DII that we haven’t seen yet, right? And so we’re trying to keep our heads on, keep moving forward and then prepare for those bigger fish when we get down the line,” Miller said.

Miller, who is currently in her fourth season as head coach, described the development of some of the team’s most experienced players.

“It’s been really wonderful to kind of see them grow into this leadership role and to see them take the team from our DIII level of competition up to where we are now,” Miller said.

Yet, players from all years have been finding ways to make a difference; Groth stymied West Chester with a series of strong tackles, and sophomore wing Malia McCollum ’29 converted a successful try last week in Bowdoin’s bout with Navy.

“All of us, regardless of our rugby experience, have been really working on trying to play a more creative, flowy style of rugby this season and that can be a lot to ask from someone who is also still learning some of the key rules of the game, but everyone has stepped up with so much positivity and willingness to learn,” Korfin wrote.

The Polar Bears will head to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. tomorrow for their matchup against Frostburg State.