Queens Cpt Steele Relishes 7s & 15s Ws

Philippi, W.V., was host to three National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) programs that played their first games of spring 2021 on Saturday. Queens University of Charlotte fielded teams for a 7s match against Alderson Broaddus University and a 15s game against West Chester University, and won both.

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Queens was entirely online in the fall, although there were some on-field conditioning options for those who remained in the area. The team was able to train in person by late January, and team captain Teaghan Steele (jr.), backs captain Abby Tobias (sr.) and forwards captain Jenna Klenz (soph.) worked to ready the squad for spring competition.

“It wasn’t anxiety as much,” Steele said of getting back on the pitch. “Although we’re still a newer program, I feel like we’ve prepared a lot from our past, and coming into this [semester], it was definitely challenging, but I think we were confident in ourselves to be prepared in time for competition.”

Steele started playing rugby during junior year of high school with West Shore United (Pa.). She started life as a center, transitioned to back three at Queens, and then returned to outside center on Saturday. The day began with a 7s match against Alderson Broaddus, which will play its first NIRA matches in fall 2021. Steele explained that the game was a learning opportunity for both teams, and that Queens viewed the match as a chance to build experience for younger players.

“It felt surreal to me the whole time we were traveling,” Steele said. “When we were at AB in the locker room and the 7s match started, it was, ‘O.K., this is happening. We are playing rugby now.’ The whole day was a rollercoaster of emotions.

“Overall, I was really happy with it. The game showed things we’ve been working on at practice but also what we’re capable of,” the captain said of the 7s performance. “All of the new players did so well. Haliegh Golden, she’s definitely impressed me ever since the beginning of the season. She stood out to me, and so did Jessica Gozlan. Both of them scored. Their whole persona changed on the field. They’re both very intense in practice but they brought a whole other level to the game.”

Queens won the 7s match 29-14 and got its tries from Gozlan (2), Golden, Rachel Holloway and Sienna Phillips – all freshmen. There were only four Royals who made the trip specifically for the 7s game, and the aforementioned were all rostered as 15s reserves against West Chester.

“Number one, we wanted to make sure we were prepared for competition, but also, we wanted to just be more aware overall,” Steele said of focus for the Golden Rams.

“Watching the film from our last West Chester game, the whole game seemed very chaotic and a lot of penalties,” the junior recalled the 38-19 loss from October 2019. “We had to take a step back, realize what happened last time, and calm the game down and focus on how we wanted to play. Slowing it all down – that definitely helped in the second half.”

Junior prop Bayla Shindledecker opened up the scoring 18 minutes in, giving West Chester a 5-0 lead. Royals sophomore Alle English, playing wing, kicked a penalty to close in before the break, 5-3.

“For the first half we were pretty much on defense most of the time, and as you know, it’s hard to defend a whole 40 minutes of a 15s match,” Steele said. “The first half we were just trying realize that we were playing rugby again and that we know how to play. We just needed to play to our abilities and strengths.

“We weren’t using our back line as much, as that’s definitely a strength we have,” the outside center elaborated. “We need to get the ball out, and we also realized that we weren’t as quick to the rucks as they were. Once we did that, we were in a better position to create that flow on offense and defense.”

Queens logged three tries in the third quarter, as sophomore Angelica Rodriquez, Tobias and English dotted down, and English was perfect on conversions. West Chester closed out the match with a try from senior Grace Larko, and sophomore Julianna Aliprandi kicked the extras for the 24-12 final.

“We didn’t know what to expect from this game but we went in really wanting to win, just because it was one of our only losses [in fall 2019],” Steele said. “The outcome was really awesome for us. It really put us on a great start for the season, the win.”

As for standouts, Steele called out freshman lock Avery Kemora as a fantastic addition to the team.

“I would also say Angelica Rodriquez,” the captain said of the sophomore inside center. “She’s always impressed me, but [Saturday], her position in the back line was very beneficial to us, and she showed us her strength during that game.

“Another one is Abby Tobias,” Steele commended the backs captain and scrumhalf. “She’s a senior this year and just a great rugby player. She’s been playing for so long and to see her play in every match – I look up to her a lot. To see her score and everything, it was awesome.

“So many players did a really awesome job though – not that I wasn’t expecting it, but you don’t necessarily see it in practice,” she closed. “Competition changes how you see things.”

Queens stays in action this weekend, as it fields two 7s squads against Lander University and Alderson Broaddus in Charlotte. The Royals’ next and final 15s game will occur on April 10 against Mount St. Mary’s University in Blacksburg, Va. West Chester has three more 15s games this spring: Davenport University (March 27), American International College (April 9) and Mount St. Mary’s (April 29).

QUEENS 15s ROSTER

1. Jill Spranger, 2. Alejandra Pina Laredo, 3. Kayla Hoch, 4. Avery Kemora, 5. Erica Spranger, 6. Gwen Knutson, 7. Annee Woozley, 8. Roisin Gilbert, 9. Abby Tobias, 10. Shelby Tippin, 11. MiKayla Tatum, 12. Angelica Rodriguez, 13. Teaghan Steele, 14. Alle English, 15. Megan Reed. Reserves: 16. Jessica Gozlan, 17. Rachel Holloway, 18. Kirsten Butte, 19. Haliegh Golden, 20. Megan Friel, 21. La’Tya Coleman, 22. Sienna Phillips, 23. Lyric Barr-McArthur.