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Raleigh cheers to another DII championship.
By Jackie Finlan
Houston, TX - After moonlighting in DI for a couple of years, Raleigh returned to DII in 2009 and won its third National Championship today. The Venom downed Pittsburgh 12-0 in the final, while Albany defeated fellow NRU team Providence 7-5 for third.
Raleigh began its path to the final with a first-round win against host Houston, 26-0. Star wing Amika Olchovik accounted for all four tries, while fullback Sarah Foster handled the extras. Also in Pool A, Pittsburgh started off its day with a 51-5 dismantling of Charleston. Since Pool A had four teams, the winners from games 1 and 2 duked it out to determine who'd advance to the semis with the other pool winners.
In a preview of the final, it was Pittsburgh that walked away with the win, nailing a closing-minutes penalty to go ahead 17-15. Raleigh had scored three tries (two from Jen Larimore, one from Amanda Winaro) before Pittsburgh started putting points on the board in the second half. The Angels' conversions made all the difference, and with only five minutes left, the score sat at 15-14 to Raleigh. The Angels took advantage of a penalty and slotted the go-ahead points, 17-15.
Fortunately for Raleigh, the team earned fourth place overall, and team faced off against Pool B winner Providence this morning. The Venom had an easier time downing the NRU #2 team, winning 31-5, while Pittsburgh had eked out a 7-5 win over Pool C winner Albany for the championship berth.
"The forwards dominated us yesterday," Vicki Smith, a prop, said of Pittsburgh. "They had us in the rucks, mauls and scrums, so we adjusted our game plan today, subbed in some players who would strengthen the forwards play."
Raleigh also adjusted its backs play, mixing it up inside to help set up the outside opportunities better. Wing Lauren Buslinger and No. 8 Whitney Post crossed the try line in the first half, and Foster added a conversion for the 12-0 lead.
There it stood for the remainder of the match, with Pittsburgh threatening in Raleigh's territory only a couple times. "We were the wild card coming in," Smith said, "so we were thrilled to win today. We played with the heart that we should have played with yesterday."
When Raleigh won back-to-back DII Championships in 2005/6, the natural progression was to move up to DI. Now that the Venom has won its third title, what now?
Smith, who might be retiring this year, was on the 2006 championship team, thinks it's a different atmosphere this time around. "In 2006, we were beating teams by 60-70 points," the prop said, "but we really had to work to win the championship this year. In the two years we've played in division one, we've only won one game against Maryland, and our numbers have been struggling."
Even if division one is further restructured, Smith intimated that DII is Raleigh's home for now.
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