The Peace Frogs, Cortland’s Women’s Rugby Team, had their season debut at Niagara University this past weekend. Despite unlucky results, the team had a strong presence from their newcomers in the Fox 7s Tournament, against all odds.
The team is coming off a successful fall season of rugby, as they attended the 2023 women’s National Championship games in Houston, TX. With the loss of veteran players, this season the team is competing in the rugby 7s non-competitive bracket to restore their cohesion.
“It was great to get back out onto the pitch for our first tournament of the season,” said head coach Ashley Crossway. “The Fox 7s tournament gave us a great opportunity to see where we are at as a team and find areas of focus for the rest of the semester.”
Taking advantage of the quieter spring season, the Peace Frogs prioritized recruiting new members.
“I’m excited for my first year,” said rookie McKenzie Barber. “We have so much potential and I’m ready to learn.”
The Fox 7s Tournament brought Barber her first try, following another try in the same game verse the University at Buffalo.
The Peace Frogs recruited Barber during their tabling event at the beginning of the semester in the Student Life Center (SLC). She said she wanted to join the team since she transferred to Cortland in the fall, after playing for two years on the Women’s Basketball team at Onondaga Community College, the Lazers.
Barber along with the team’s other rookie, Jamie Stahl, have been crucial assets to the Peace Frogs spring season thus far.
“I think we all played great today,” said Stahl. “There’s lots of room for improvement but overall, we improved a lot, just today.”
Many veteran players believed the outcome of this tournament could’ve been more successful.
“We didn’t do as well as we had hoped, but I saw a lot of newcomers do amazing things on the field,” said veteran Destiny Fix. “So that was nice.”
Crossway said that the team was walking into the day with 3 formidable opponents including the reigning 15s national champion St. Bonaventure University followed by two Division II teams.
“Although we may not have been as successful in the win column as we hoped, we continued to play better with each match of the day,” said Crossway.
The Peace Frogs faced their “rivals” for their first game of the day against St. Bonaventure Women’s Rugby. While the Bonnies are Cortland’s biggest competition, the teams are close due to the head coaches of both teams playing rugby together in an adult women’s team, the Rochester Renegades.
Next up was the Upstate New York Conference Champions, Syracuse University’s Women’s Rugby squad (SUWRFC). ‘Cuse had three all-star players on their starting lineup.
The athletes Brealin Redecker (small college), Sheila Legus-Christamn (Division I), and Lauren Chiaino (Division I) were selected for the Upstate Snow Leopards team this year. They played in the Collegiate Rugby All-Stars Women’s 7s National Cup this past January in Austin, TX after their successful fall season.
Lastly, the Peace Frogs faced the University at Buffalo Women’s Rugby team, which was their closest game of the day. The final score was 22-20, only losing by one conversion kick.
“I’m excited to see how the team develops over the course of the spring semester and carrying that momentum into our competitive fall season,” said Crossway.
The Peace Frogs are set to play next April 7 at the annual Ruck Rochester Tournament in Rochester, NY. Team updates and game schedules can be found on the Cortland Women’s Rugby Club Instagram page.