LANSDALE – On Sunday the State College Girls Rugby Team defended their EPRU Title in Lansdale, ultimately winning their fifth straight EPRU Championship.
In the first matchup of the day State College faced the Hempfield Knights, a worthy test from a team that defeated the Little Lions early on in the season. Surviving the rigors of the season the Lions learned and improved over the next couple of months culminating in the Lions besting the Knights in the Mothers Day Semi-Final matchup. The teams were closely matched and the score reflected this at 12-12 until the waning moments of the game when the Lions were able to capitalize on a well timed kick from the scrumhalf Elena Cantorna that pushed the Knights deep into their own end where the Lions were able to recover the ball due to some stout defense. Outside Center Seymira Salamy was able to hustle the ball away thanks to some timely passing from her teammates and found daylight through the Hempfield defensive line leading to the go ahead try.
The Championship round found the Lions pitted against Doylestown, an earlier winner in the day against Unionville. The Lions jumped out to an early lead due to some crafty kicking and hard running from backline players Megan Thomas, Roxanne Jaffe, and Seymira Salamy. All the flash and dash of the State College backs aside, the unsung heroes of the day were the State College forwards who provided ample ball possession, a stifling defense, and a rock solid backbone for the team that freed up the Lions to attack at will. In the end the Lions proved to be too much for Doylestown and Hempfield outlasting both teams to claim the Championship and a berth in the USA Rugby High School National Championship to be held in Pittsburgh.
