A brief scan of the Women’s Division II championship bracket might make it seem for a second that you’ve been transported back to December 2024.
Three of the four semifinalists from last season have returned to vie for the crown once again, though that probably shouldn’t be a shock as Vassar, Wisconsin Eau-Claire and Coast Guard might as well invest in team facilities in Houston at this point. But familiarity breeds intense rivalries, and the rematch between Coast Guard and Vassar in the tournament’s penultimate round on Saturday, December 6, will be anything but boring.
The Brewers bested the Bears last season, 39-27, but Coast Guard presented Vassar with their toughest fight on their way to a third national championship in four years. The superstars for both teams – Coast Guard’s Kate Boggs and Vassar’s Sophia Bailey – cancelled each other out in last year’s contest with two tries apiece. Isabella Rivera and Jasmine Mendez also scored for CGA, but the Bears just couldn’t keep pace with Vassar’s surfeit of scorers, namely Jude Robinson, who kept the scoreboard ticking up with three tries of her own. Leah Dourmashkin and Sarah Wagner contributed scores as well.
The only person not returning for this year’s contest out of the players I mentioned in the last paragraph is Wagner, with each team bringing back a talented core that is one year older, one year wiser, and has had a full year to think about returning to this stage. New faces have also emerged throughout the 2025 season to help take each contender’s game to the next level.
While Sophia Bailey and Jude Robinson have been prolific again for Vassar – who went 11-0 in the regular season on the way to their tenth Tri-State Conference title – players like Matty Sumrow, Sarah Towne, Emma Niehaus, and Yasmeen Kassem-Scott have helped make the Brewers even more formidable. Thanks to this capable core, Vassar once again breezed through the regional round of the playoffs, dispatching Towson 57-5 and Coastal Carolina 66-0.
The Coasties are coming into this year’s matchup riding high off a Collegiate Rugby Championship 7s title in the spring, thanks to stellar play from the aforementioned Boggs and captain Savannah McBrayer. Despite losing All-American Avis Akers from last season, players like Hazel Mitrick, Madison Murphy and Carlee Woolum have helped the Bears compile their own unblemished record in conference play, capped off by a North Atlantic Conference championship in their 25th anniversary season. Winger Avery Socca has also been on a scoring tear throughout the regional round of the playoffs, matching Boggs’ team-leading total of four tries in big wins over quality teams in Marist (44-31), and Fairfield (33-24).
There is one genuine surprise in this year’s DII bracket, and it comes in the form of the Binghamton University She Devils, who unleashed hell in the Midwest during the regional round. Unranked Binghamton toppled #9 Northwestern 60-17 and #11 Bowling Green 55-34 to earn the chance to play spoiler on the national stage in Houston, a role that they reportedly relish.
The Upstate New York Conference Champs are an incredibly deep team led by flyhalf Elizabeth Crawford, a swiss army knife who capably commands the rest of the troops. The scoring – and they do a lot of scoring – can come from anywhere, with players like Leah Ford, Kennedy Ridzi, and Casey Davis all presenting as threats to any opposing defense.
If the National Championship bracket were like the Gilded Age, Binghamton would represent New Money – families like the Vanderbilts, Carnegies, Rockefellers, and Morgans, who made fortunes through industrial and financial enterprises like railroads, steel, and banking. Their opponents in the semifinals, Wisconsin Eau-Claire, however, are like the oldest of Old Money families that exist – the Forbes, Astors, and Roosevelts of the world – who made their money in real estate, fur trading, and shipping and who don’t take kindly to any upstart magnates trying to bully their way into a seat at the very old, mahogany contender’s table at which they sit.
Eau Claire finished second in the nation in 2024, losing to Vassar 24-5. Despite falling short of their goal, and losing a strong contingent of seniors including All-American Cerys Ridd, the Blugolds wasted no time announcing themselves as contenders once again for 2025. After coming into the season ranked #4 in the preseason poll, they upset a strong DI-AA side UNI on Friday Night Rugby in September and haven’t looked back since, cruising to yet another Great Waters Conference championship.
Hooker Olivia George was the driving force behind the victory over UNI and has continued to provide a spark on offense throughout the postseason. George scored four tries in dominant wins over Norwich (62 - 19) and Winona State (41-19), which sent the Blugolds back to Houston. The forward pack is the strength of the team once again, with George’s fellow front-rower Calla Dexheimer also scoring four times at Regionals, and second row player Caitlyn Skattebo scoring twice. Kaitlyn Moore, Maggie Kane, Breanna Bauer, and Autumn Noel are also players to keep an eye on as Eau Claire gears up for its shot at a second national title this decade.
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