Photo: St. Bonaventure Women’s Rugby Facebook
BY KYLE MAIER, SPORTS ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
The St. Bonaventure women’s rugby team plays for a chance to hoist the Women’s Division I Club Cup in the Collegiate Rugby Championship this weekend.
Bonaventure will face the University of Oregon at 11:40 a.m. Saturday at the Maryland SoccerPlex.
Due to the championship’s bracket-style playoff, the Brown and White must win four games in two days to lift hardware.
Head coach Meredith Pyke shared how she has been preparing her players for the opportunity.
“My main focus for our athletes was fitness and mastery of the basic skills,” said Pyke. “They have risen to the occasion and really put the work in. This week is all about fine tuning details as well as giving our athletes time to get ahead on their school work, making sure they get good sleep and are hydrating and eating well.”
Sophomore Kyla Nentarz described her preparation process as a team captain.
“I have been watching rugby games constantly and getting myself into a winning mindset,” said Nentarz. “I have been putting full trust in my teammates these past couple of weeks, so keeping a positive mindset is huge.”
The Bonnies won three games in the CRC Qualifier Tournament last weekend, beating Indiana University of Athletics 22-12, University of Pittsburgh 29-7, and Notre Dame College 30-0.
Now at 8-3, SBU looks to continue its dominance against the top teams in the country.
“Our success is because of the hard work and trust we put into each other,” said Nentarz. “Our coach is also one of our biggest attributes. Coach Pyke puts her all into this team and gives us the tools we need to succeed. She is our biggest advocate and pushes us to be the team we want to be.”
Pyke says the program’s developing culture and winning go hand in hand.
“We have had an extremely successful season so far and I attribute a lot of our success to the culture that we are building,” said Pyke. “The team has been showing up, ready to put the work in— even on our toughest conditioning days— and have been holding each other accountable.”
In December, Bonaventure announced that women’s rugby would be moving to National Collegiate Rugby’s DI after previously competing in the Women’s Small College.
Pyke embraces the challenges new collegiate competition has brought.
“We have noticed that the playing field is now more level. We are now coming up against teams that have challenged us,” said Pyke. “We can definitely hang in and are ready to take on the new challenges for DI, now it’s all about getting more experience for the SBU Women’s athletes at this higher level.”
Nentarz wants her leadership to energize the team down the stretch.
“As a captain, it’s really important to keep a positive mindset heading into the weekend,” said Nentarz. “I’m hoping to lift my team up, be a leader, and make big plays. I want to focus on defense and making big hits because that’s my strength.”
With the postseason approaching, Nentarz reflected on the Bonnies’ achievements this spring.
“Earlier this season, we played a tournament at Niagara. We went 3-0 for the day and it felt like we were actually becoming a DI team,” said Nentarz. “There have been so many moments this season where I am starting to see the greatness in our team and that has been one of them.”
The winner of Bonaventure’s match either faces Boise State or Iowa Saturday at noon.
maierkj22@bonaventure.edu
