Central Washington University Athletics

ELLENSBURG, Wash.- The No. 3 Central Washington University women's rugby defeated National Intercollegiate Rugby Association rival No. 2 Quinnipiac University, 31-22, Saturday afternoon at the Wildcat Rugby Pitch.
 
Saturday's contest was a rematch of last season's NIRA national championship, which Quinnipiac won 46-24.  The Wildcats (2-2, 1-0 NIRA) improve to 4-0 all-time against Quinnipiac in the regular season.
 
"Our Wildcat women played their hearts out today and were rewarded with an uncomfortably close victory," CWU interim head coach Trevor Richards said. "Quinnipiac brought their usual hard, physical running and they certainly tested our defense until the last moments of the game."
 
"I was really pleased with the effort of our forwards," Richards continued. "Their scrum dominance and ball carrying were immense and when we factor in that three different forwards scored, I am going to be happy with their tenacity. Sui was dangerous both on attack and defense and Leah, Spencer and Emma did a great job accessing kick space."
 
The Wildcats came out strong, scoring the first ten points of the match behind tries from Suiluana A'au and Jaida Kafovalu. A'au scored in the second minute of the match as she sprinted past the Bobcat defense down the left side of the pitch. Kafovalu's try came in the ninth minute, following a scrum at the five-meter line. After several attempts from the Wildcats to pierce the try line, Kafovalu finally broke through Quinnipiac's defensive line and bullied her way into try.
 
Quinnipiac responded with a try of their own in the 19th minute as Flora Poole raced nearly the length of the field to reduce the scoring margin to 10-5.
 
Senior Samantha Pinson scored in the 24th minute, followed by a successful conversion by Leah Ingold.
 
The Bobcats tallied a penalty try in the closing minutes of the first half to trim CWU's first half lead to 17-12.  
 
A'au scored her second try of the match in the 62nd minute after stiff-arming a pair of Bobcat defenders. Senior Emma Leonard extended CWU's advantage to 24-12 with a successful conversion.
 
Quinnipiac's Emily Roskopf scored in the 70th minute, but Michel Navarro answered with a try in the 78th minute.
 
Quinnipiac tallied a try with just under a minute remaining in regulation to close out the day's scoring effort, but the Wildcats came away with a 31-22 victory.
 
"We certainly weren't perfect today and we'll spend our bye week working on some key areas that need to be addressed," Richards explained. "Overall, it was a good day at the office but we will need to be more clinical as the season progresses."
 
The Wildcats and Bobcats will meet again in two weeks as CWU travels to Hamden, Conn. to compete at the Quinnipiac Rugby Field.
 
Scoring Summary vs. Quinnipiac University
02:00  Suiluana A'au 5
09:00  Jaida Kafovalu 5
19:00  Quinnipiac 5
24:00  Samantha Pinson 5, Leah Ingold 2
39:00  Quinnipiac 7
Halftime Score: Central Washington 17, Quinnipiac 12
62:00  Suiluana A'au 5, Emma Leonard 2
70:00  Quinnipiac 5
78:00  Michel Navarro 5, Emma Leonard 2
79:00  Quinnipiac 5
Final Score: Central Washington 31, Quinnipiac 22
 
-CWU-