2002 Final Four Results and comments

(per LtCol Skip Shackelford)

After beating Illinois 7-5 on Saturday in overtime, AF faced Penn State on Sunday for the National Championship. It was a windy day w/ plenty of overcast. Despite the overcast, the threat of rain subsided as we approached the whistle, but the winds stayed out of the south and were certainly in the 25-30 kt range.

Just like Saturday, it was cold and windy, felt like the Zoo w/ air. Loosing the toss, the Zoomies played into the wind, much like most of Saturday. Penn State took advantage of the wind and plenty of AF penalties.

For most of the first 25 minutes of the half, Penn State kept the ball deep in the AF end of the field. The AF defense turned away attack after attack, but at the 30th minute of play Penn State pushed across for five points. In the horrific wind, the Penn State kicker converted and the score was Penn State 7, AF 0. For the next ten minutes Penn State kept plenty of pressure on AF, but the Zoomie defense held and the half ended w/ Penn State ahead by seven.

In the second half, AF finally had the wind, but Penn State's "possession" game was making it tough for AF to score. After twenty minutes of play, most of it in the Penn State half of the field, C4C Tiffany Williams was part of a great attack of forwards that pushed the ball across to give AF its first points of the match. Unable to convert the kick in the windy conditions, the score was now Penn State 7, AF 5. The match continued with AF maintaining pressure on Penn State, but their defense was solid against a range of attacking strategies. At the 27th minute of the half, C1C Erin Harms took the ball from a five meter penalty kick, and bulled her way through the Penn State defenders to give the AF a 10 - 7 lead. This time, despite the stiff wind and a kicking position from an extreme angle, C1C Adrianna Vorderbruggen converted to give the AF a 12-7 lead over Penn State. With emotions high, AF and Penn State played a seesaw match until time expired. Final score, AF 12, Penn State 7.

US National Women's Collegiate Rugby Champions-Air Force!

The march to this success included the National Sweet Sweet 16's two matches and the two matches this weekend. In 340 minutes of rugby at the highest level for collegiate women, AF had no injuries. It's a testament to the cadets' commitment to the team's conditioning and practice regiman.

Another "win" for the team was the selection of C1C Laura McDonald as the Final Four Tournaments MVP. Given the great teams and players from Penn State, Illinois, and Navy, this honor was especially significant for Laura and the terrific performance she had in these two games.

The following players were the starters and played the full 80 minutes w/ the exception of C3C Chandra LeCompte who was a temporary sub for ten minutes.

1 C4C Felicia White

2 C3C Val Ferrara

3 C4C Shamika Bailey

4 C4C Tiffany Williams

5 C3C Stacie Hartert

6 C3C Victoria Whittaker

7 C1C Laura McDonald

8 C1C Erin Harms (Co-Captain)

9 C3C Tina Williams

10 C2C Tess Labowitch

11 C1C Adrianna Vorderbruggen (Co-Captain)

12 C1C Nicole Winters

13 C2C Kari James

14 C2C Nicki Hamilton-Brown

15 C3C Breanna McNair

Other players who've been integral to this team success and who made this trip are: C2C Missy Smith, C4C Leslie Kastrop, C4C Cara Rotering, C4C Kelly Politte, C4C Christina Daluz, C4C Erin Smith, C4C Rachel Dietz, C4C Kathy Delgiorno

Cadet-in-Charge, C2C Eva Belanger