Women's Rugby Prepares to Defend Unblemished Record

21 Sep 2024

Wheeling University Athletics

Wheeling, W. Va- Here's a question for the audience: What is the best adjective you would use to describe the Wheeling Women's Rugby squad (3-0)? Dominating? Relentless? Overwhelming? The answer is all the above. The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 190-14 over the last three games played and will look to widen that range against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State has other plans for the result as they will be traveling to Wheeling, eager to start their season on a high note with a win. Last time out, the Cards recorded their first ever varsity shutout in program history with a jaw-dropping 66-0 victory over ranked Cincinnati. Bella Gullatta, once again, finished the game leading her team in points with a try and made seven out of nine total conversion kicks for 19 points. Alexis Dallas struck first to open the scoring in just the second minute of the match. Alli Davis was next to score in the sixth minute. At the 18th minute, Liz Sinatra took advantage of the outside space to burn the Bearcats for a try of her own. Jill Stewart closed the first half with a powerful drive through the defense into the try zone to make it 26-0. The Cardinal's offense began to impose their will in the second half, racking up 40 points. After a try from Gullatta to open things up, "Monster", otherwise known as Joelle Taylor, crossed the try line for the first time in her collegiate career. Tatyana Watson also picked up her first collegiate try in the 68th minute. Cincinnati felt the presence of Marlee Garrison two times in under 10 minutes as she found the try zone twice. Garrison's tries were followed up by a Marissa Hudson conversion kick. Linda Dang scored her second try of the season. After that, the referee called the game in the 86th minute. Looking down into the Happy Valley The Penn State Nittany Lions are set to make about a four-hour trip to Wheeling University to play their season opening game. Last season, the Nittany Lions were invited to compete in the Collegiate Rugby Association of America's (CRAA) 2023-24 Premier 7's Championship on May 3-4th, 2024. They played matches against Sacred Heart, Long Island, Lindenwood, and Harvard Universities. The team unfortunately did not qualify after their pool matches and were eliminated. The team saw a change in leadership at head coach recently. It was announced on August 30th, that 2015 Penn State alumna Lauren Shissler would take over the reigns as the new Women's Rugby coach for the Nittany Lions. Shissler, as an athlete, helped lead her team to the 15's National Championship in all five years she played, capturing the title four of those times. She also has a 7's National Championship to her name as she rallied her Nittany Lions to win it all in 2015. Shissler played a little more after graduating but has been coaching since 2020 and has big plans for her girls this season. The Details The Cardinals and Nittany Lions match will kick-off at 7pm on Saturday, September 21st at Bishop-Schmitt Field. You can watch the game on MEC.TV here, or track the game through stats here.