Here are the 3 men’s and women’s teams that we think will show some quality rugby and will make a statement this Las Vegas Invitational .
Men’s
New England College
Going undefeated the opening day, the NEC Pilgrims did some damage in their pool putting up a collective 99 points while only letting in 24. The team has an NSCRO 7s championship under their belt and are hungry for more. The Pilgrims will play Notre Dame College, a tough team, before playing the winner of Lindenwood and Lindenwood-Belleville.
Notre Dame College
The Falcons also went undefeated yesterday, taking a forfeit from Millersville and beating Harvard and Colgate handily. The team from Ohio has gone undefeated in the LVI pool play for their second year in a row. For their first match of the day against NEC there should be some great competition with excellent athletes. Their second match today could be up against one of the Lindenwoods.
Central Washington University
Central Washington had the second highest point differential yesterday behind Lindenwood, handling their competition easily and only letting up a single try to Georgetown. The Wildcats are the second seeded team in the tournament and a tough group of guys ready for a challenge. Their first match will be against Dixie State who fought their way to the top of Pool D. The second match – the winner of Santa Clara and Clemson.
Women’s
Notre Dame College
The NDC women are rolling their competition, shutting out Lewis and Clark as well as Utah State. This squad has been prepping for this contest for a long time now and are ready to play. Their first match is up against Nation Sports.
American International College
The Yellow Jackets won the title at last year’s LVI and look eager to take it again. They cleared Pool B scoring 84 points and only letting in two tries. Shamira Robles stood out in the first match against Dixie State scoring 3 tries. Their first match will be Arizona who lost to UBC.
UBC Thunderbirds
The women from the University of British Colombia have come a long way to play in Las Vegas and they’re doing it well. Going undefeated yesterday in their domination of Pool A the Thunderbirds took out Arizona, Utah Valley, and Siena. We should be seeing these girls going far in the competition.
Top Photo Credit: Travis Prior