Women’s Rugby Wins Polar Bear 7s

Saturday, April 20

Brunswick, Maine

10:00 AM

Brown University

Polar Bear 7s

4/20/2019 6:54:00 PM | Women's Rugby, Women's Rugby 7s

BRUNSWICK, Maine– The Brown women's rugby team concluded the 7s season by winning the Polar Bear 7s tournament on Saturday. The Bears defeated AIC, 38-5, in the championship match.

"I'm extremely proud of the team today," said head coach Kathy Flores. "We took all of the things that weren't working well for us last weekend at Ivy 7s and put them all together to win the tournament at Bowdoin, even in a downpour. I'm already excited about next fall."

Sophomore Lexi Nelson (Foxboro, Mass.) got the Bears started versus Northeastern with a big hit and later broke away for the opening try after senior Louise Leitao (Porto Alegre, Brazil) caused a turnover. Sophomore Olivia Duba (San Ramon, Calif.) also added a successful conversion for a 7-0 lead which would bring Brown to halftime. Senior Elise Hinkle (Sudbury, Mass.) started things in the second, recovering the ball on a dropped kickoff. Duba then added a try before the Huskies touched down their first conversion, bringing the score to 12-7. Despite a strong goal line defensive stand, Northeastern managed to sneak one over the try line to tie the match, 12-12, which would be the final score.

Against Sacred Heart, freshman Gemma Ryu (Denver, Colo.) gave the Bears a 5-0 advantage. Leitao followed by running the length of the field and Duba added a kick for a 12-0 lead heading into the break. Duba then scored two straight and freshman Zy Thomas (Fairfield, Calif.) got on the board to increase Brown's lead to 26-0. The match ended with a consolation try by the Pioneers for a 26-5 final.

In the championship match versus AIC, the Bears trailed 5-0 but came back to take a 7-5 lead on a try by junior Alexandria Simon (Kaunakakai, Hawaii) and a conversion from Thomas. Brown quickly increased its advantage to 21-5 at the break with tries from junior Abby O'Keefe (St. Louis, Mo.) and Thomas. O'Keefe opened the second half with two-straight scores to build the Bears' lead up to 33-5. Leitao later added a try for extra measure for the final of 38-5.