One more weekend until Selection Saturday

There’s no better way to put a cap on the Automatic Qualifier portion of the Spring 7s season than the eleven-tournament AQ-palooza that is the final weekend before Selection Saturday. Every division, men’s and women’s, will have at least one team automatically entered into the Championship bracket by the end of the weekend, while countless other teams will be looking to put on a show as they try and add the final exclamation point to their resumes for at-large bid consideration.

‍

Stags 7s

Hosted by Fairfield University, Stags 7s will help decide the recipient of one of the final two AQ bids available in the Men’s Premier Cup. A number of the teams participating in the tournament, like Walsh, Kutztown, and St. Bonaventure have already punched their tickets to Maryland and are looking for a tuneup as they prepare themselves for a shot at glory. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of competitors who could desperately use a strong performance against top competition to aid their chances for qualification.

None of the three Ivy League schools participating in Stags 7s – Brown, Dartmouth, and Harvard – have been able to secure a spot so far this Spring, though the chances of Brown and Dartmouth missing out on the tournament are relatively low regardless of the result on Saturday. Brown’s roster is absolutely chock full of explosive athletes and the Bears notched quality wins over St. Bonaventure and AIC at Monumental 7s earlier this month before coming up two points short against Kutztown in the final. The Big Green, led by All-Star Ethan Knight, finished in second place at Ruck the Rock 7s, registering big wins over teams like Belmont Abbey and Queens before falling to defending champs Wheeling 24-14 in the final. Harvard would benefit greatly from a strong showing here as their only other notable result is a fourth-place finish at the Yellow Rose Classic in March.

Hosts Fairfield headlines the list of other hungry contenders in the tournament as they look to improve on their first-round CRC exit in 2025. The Stags looked strong in their final action of the Fall, winning a bowl game that was essentially a track meet against Texas Tech, but went 1-2 at Old Blue 7s with losses to St. Bonaventure and Iona. Fairfield’s Eamonn O’Reilly, Patrick McHale and co. will get another shot at the Gaels this weekend in what could be a crucial matchup for at-large considerations. Iona has looked strong under head coach Kyle Granby and led by All-Stars Hamish Goonan and Lucas Chirico.

AIC and Siena are also threats as both made deep runs at last year’s tournament. In a head-to-head matchup this Spring, AIC bested Siena 15-14 at Monumental 7s. The Yellow Jackets also bested dark-horse contender Fordham at Old Blue 7s two weeks ago on their way to a semifinal berth. The Rams, under head coach Chris Mattina, bested AIC earlier this season 28-5 at Frostbite 7s, however, before also upsetting Kutztown on their way to a second-place finish behind St. Bonaventure.

‍

Fools Gold 7s

The final Men’s Premier Cup AQ bid will be decided at Boise State’s Fools Gold 7s tournament, which features seven teams from around the Rocky Mountains. It should be a pretty competitive tournament as these teams have seen a decent amount of each other already this Spring.

Boise State lost to both Utah State and Utah Valley University at a tournament hosted by UVU in March but beat Weber State 33-7. Utah State were the eventual champions at that tournament and were the third place finishers at the Yellow Rose Classic after winning the Battle of the Aggies against Texas A&M, which puts them squarely in contention for a CRC bid.

Oregon State has also looked strong this Spring, finishing second at Palouse 7s with wins over Oregon, Central Washington, Washington State, and the University of Idaho. DII darlings Colorado Mesa will also give it a go this weekend after coming up short in an earlier qualifier hosted by Missouri S&T. The Mavericks will look to put some strong wins on their resume ahead of Selection Saturday.

‍

Gate City 7s

Gate City 7s in Greensboro, NC, is a double qualifier sending one team to Maryland to compete in the Women’s Premier Cup bracket and another to round out the field in the Women’s DI-AA division.

‍

Women’s Premier Cup

The top teams in the Premier Cup that will get a good run out at this tournament are Walsh, Aquinas, Queens, and St. Bonaventure.

The Bonnies have played in the three tournaments so far this season and the speedy Elizabeth Lyons has been among the best players on the pitch in two of them. They beat Walsh twice at Frostbite 7s and should come out on top this weekend when the dust settles. Aquinas have also looked good, however, finishing in the top three at Cavalier 7s, Hawkeye 7s, Irish 7s, and the inaugural Nelson 7s tournament despite the fact that they roll out an all-freshman lineup every week. Jayana Williams and Lillian Stough, among others, have provided the spark for the Saints.

‍

Women’s DI-AA

The DI-AA field is a little larger though it does include some competitive DII sides, like Coastal Carolina and UNC-Charlotte, who are looking for a challenge. The only officially qualified team among the bunch is James Madison University, with the Dukes having punched their ticket at the Bison Brawl earlier this Spring. They’ll have to fend off some powerful competitors if they want to add a second AQ win to their resume, including perennial contenders Virginia who boast a roster with three All-Americans in Milena Keene, Kate Delaney, and Taylor Wreath.

Florida State should also worry the rest of the field as they have played a lot of good rugby this Spring. The Seminoles came up just short against interstate rivals Florida at the Love at first Ruck AQ in February but have handled some of the teams that they’ll see again this weekend like Clemson and UCF. Neva Harke, Julia Slayne, and Jess Rosenblum have done the most damage for the ‘Noles so far this season.

‍

Minuteman 7s

A thunder of teams from the Northeast will descend on the campus of UMass Amherst this weekend to try and sew up the remaining AQ bid in the Men’s DI-AA bracket. One participating team, Northeastern, has already taken care of business with a tournament win at Fighting Irish 7s earlier this month. The top contender after the Huskies has to be the Babson Beavers, who bested both UConn and UMass at Old Blue 7s, though their game against UConn was decided by just one point.

Hosts UMass, a final four finisher at last year’s CRC, have struggled so far in 2026 going 2-2 at Terrapin 7s and winless at Old Blue, though they were blanked by a strong Kutztown team and their loss to UConn was by two points. They did, however, lose to Babson 34-5 meaning All-Stars Liam Pearl, John McGoey, and Colin Moriarty will have to find another level for the Minutemen if they hope to punch their ticket at their home tournament.

Niagara has played a lot of rugby this Spring and has shown some steady improvement. The Purple Eagles, with All-Stars Jaden Cusprine and Charlie Marzec, lost to UMass by one score at Terrapin 7s. Binghamton, Columbia, Yale, and the University of Vermont round out the field at Minuteman.

‍

Rugby Northeast

Some of the top Women’s DI-AA contenders will also meet in the Northeast this weekend as they look to join the Gate City 7s winner in rounding out the AQ portion of the field.

Hosts, and defending National Champions in both 7s and 15s, Northeastern are the odds-on favorites to secure the bid coming out of this tournament. In their first season under newly-minted head 7s coach Margaret Reiss, the Huskies worked their all-everything roster into game shape throughout the month of March.

Led by All-American Jolene Russo, along with fellow All-American Kourtney Bichotte-Dunner and All-Stars Mira Mahmoud, Alex Peterson, and Riley Chapman, Northeastern tested themselves early against Premier Cup competition at Brown 7s. Though they dropped games against Brown, AIC, and Army, the experience served them well at URI 7s at the start of April where they beat URI and UConn, two competitors in this qualifier, by a combined score of 58-7. The one score by UConn was the only try they surrendered across four games.

The only other team that might have something to say is the University of Michigan, who beat everyone except UNI and Ohio State at their own home qualifier last weekend. Even a second-place finish after a competitive final against Northeastern might help boost the Wolverines’ chances of securing an at-large bid on Selection Saturday.

‍

Great Waters

One of three supersized conference qualifiers on the slate for the weekend, the Great Waters tournament will send teams to both the Women’s DII and DIII brackets at this year’s CRC. None of the teams participating have locked up a bid heading into the tournament, which means they’ll have to win it all in order to punch their ticket.

‍

Women’s DII

The top candidate in the DII field is the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who may have an even stronger motivation to return to Maryland than they usually do. The Blugolds were the top seed in the East coming into last year’s championship tournament but were upset in the first round 19-15 by New Mexico State. Eau Claire’s 2026 roster is once again stacked with All-Stars including Emma Blomquist, Maggie Kane, Maggie Benke, and Kahlyn Geiger – plus All-American prop Calla Dexheimer thrown into the mix, I want to say just for fun, but I’m sure it’s not very fun for any of the teams that have to play them.

Frostburg State transfer Scout Spadoni has also provided a huge boost for the Blugolds this Spring with her extensive rugby background. Spadoni was All-State twice during her high school rugby career and received a NIRA DII Honorable Mention nod in her freshman season with Frostburg.

One of the teams standing against Eau Claire this weekend will be Northwestern, who were dominant in the one tournament they’ve played so far. The Wildcats went 5-0 at Windy City 7s against teams like UW-Madison, the University of Chicago and Indiana. Senior Maxine van der Donk had ten tries in the tournament while fellow All-Star Katelyn Cai scored seven times.

DePaul University looked good against B and C sides from DI-AA teams like Michigan and Ohio State at Wolverine 7s last weekend with B Baldwin Zurek doing most of the scoring damage for the Blue Demons. That experience could be helpful when navigating this tournament. And Marquette finished third at the Mudfest tournament hosted by UW-Platteville in March, though Eau Claire took the top spot in that contest as well. UW-Milwaukee, UW-La Crosse, UW-Whitewater, Loyola Chicago, and the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign round out the DII field.

‍

Women’s DIII

In DIII, the aforementioned Pioneers of UW-Platteville sit atop the list of contenders. Platteville made it to round two at the CRC’s last year before losing to runners up Baldwin Wallace 17-12. This Spring, the Pioneers finished in first place at the Blue Devil Brawl tournament, hosted by conference foes UW-Stout, in addition to their second place finish at Mudfest amongst a host of DII contenders. Northern Michigan, who finished third at the Blue Devil Brawl, could also prove to be feisty. Carleton College, from the Northern Lights Conference, and Grace College, from the Great Lakes Conference, could also be potential wildcards as they join in the fray to bring the total number of competing teams to six with UChicago and UW-Stout rounding out the field.

‍

MARC 7s

The Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference (MARC) finals has an incredible array of teams attached to it as it will send not one, not two, but three different teams to Maryland in their respective brackets.

‍

Men’s DII

The Men’s DII field may come down to a finals match between Scranton and IUP as the two qualifiers from last year headline their respective pools in the MARC tournament. Scranton is coming off a first place finish at Drexel 7s and a third place finish at a tournament hosted by East Stroudsburg. The Norsemen avenged losses against both teams to beat them this Spring, Lehigh and Drexel, with freshman Liam Fritz and senior Dan Sheahan leading the way.

The Crimson Hawks of IUP, led by the explosive Malcolm Johnson, came close to qualifying at the Frostbite 7s AQ where they lost to a St. Bonaventure B-Side in the finals. They also swept the Pitt Dome 7s tournament against a smattering of conference foes from the Allegheny. But they had a disappointing showing at Cowboys 7s with losses to albeit strong DII programs in Salisbury, Miami (OH), Grand Valley State, and Drexel. IUP will look to rebound this weekend during their last chance to secure an automatic bid in what was recently announced as the final season for the program’s longtime head coach Seth Erwin. Erwin, who led the Crimson Hawks to four national championships, announced earlier this month that he would be stepping down at the conclusion of his eleventh season with the program.

Villanova, who barely lost to Scranton in the finals at Drexel 7s, might have the firepower to topple one of the two top teams, though they don’t have as much tournament experience as IUP or the Norsemen. They do, however, have Jason Lambert and Rob Maclehose, who scored seven and six tries respectively throughout the tournament at Drexel. Georgetown have also been steadily improving this Spring, building off a 1-3 record at a tournament in February to go 3-1 and finish in third place at Ruck the Rock in March.

‍

Women’s DII

The Women’s DII bracket features the 2026 MARC 7s champs, the Towson Tigers, who beat Mary Washington earlier this month to claim the title. While a conference championship trophy looks pretty good on a resume for an at-large bid, the Tigers would surely love to guarantee a spot with a tourney win this weekend and look like they’re plenty capable of doing it. They’ve won several tuneup tournaments throughout the Spring and seem fully prepared to once again make a run to the Final Four, if not beyond, in this year’s National Championship tournament.

Denying Towson an automatic bid would be pretty sweet revenge for Mary Washington, however, and they are a team that certainly knows how to win. The Eagles went 14-1 leading up to the conference playoffs with convincing victories over a number of the other teams in the field this weekend, including William and Mary. The Tribe are no slouches, though, as they made the cut for the 2025 CRC’s and have placed among the top three in a number of tournaments this Spring. William and Mary should never be taken lightly with Olivia Hughes, Gabriella Ledford, and Caroline Seitz on the roster along with a number of other playmakers.

American University and Delaware are also potential top finishers on the weekend.

‍

Men’s DIII

There are plenty of the usual suspects in Men’s DIII gathering for a shot at a CRC berth this weekend, though there are most likely varying levels of anxiety heading into the tournament.

Richmond and Slippery Rock have both already punched their tickets to Maryland and have both turned in dominant performances across multiple tournaments this Spring. They certainly won’t sweat the result of this weekend as they try to make sure their engines are still running smoothly in two weeks’ time.

Susquehanna, Loyola Maryland, Alfred, and Christendom have been grinding all season with nary an open weekend on their schedules. They’ve all been competitive at one tournament or another, but have not been able to get over the hump. The four of them may have built up solid enough resumes for at-large consideration, but a top three finish this weekend would certainly boost their chances and could also potentially send one of them to the dance if Slippery Rock and Richmond take the top two spots.

Franciscan, national champions in the Fall, got a late start to their 7s season and have only played in two tournaments so far. While they looked good in a tuneup against ARU opponents, the Barons went 2-2 at Lt. Col. Crowe 7s on March 28th with losses to Susquehanna (22-17) and Providence College (22-5). Franciscan is certainly good enough to win it all, but with such a light schedule and two disappointing losses, they will have to show out this weekend

Xavier and Howard are potential wildcard contenders in the field who have the potential to get hot at the right moment.

‍

Nor’Easter 7s

Another strong field of DIII men’s teams will compete at Nor’Easter 7s in Springfield, MA. Hosts Springfield College are the only team to have already punched their ticket, opening the door for any number of teams to walk through if they want to keep their seasons alive.

Nichols and Endicott are the top two contenders after Springfield as they have been dominating the Northeast all season. Nichols haven’t lost many games through five tournaments this Spring, and avenged their one loss to Providence in the same tournament. They also have a 24-12 head-to-head win over Endicott in their own house, though the victory only evens the season series as the Gulls edged the Bison 33-15 at Nichols’ home tournament the week before. The two of them are most likely on a collision course for another consequential matchup this weekend, though they also have both racked up enough wins that an at-large bid could be in either of their futures.

While they have struggled somewhat this Spring, Holy Cross made it a habit in the Fall of winning when it counted the most. The Crusaders upset Nichols in the Regional playoffs and will be looking to potentially steal a bid to Maryland this weekend.

‍

Women’s DII

The Women’s DII field is headlined by the defending 15s and 7s national champs Coast Guard, who should punch their ticket this weekend. Stacked with dynamic athletes like Savannah McBrayer, Carlee Woolum, and Avery Soca – as well as DII Player of the Year Kate Boggs – the Bears have their eyes on a third national championship in as many seasons. They haven’t played in many tournaments this Spring but, to be honest, they don’t really need to.

One team that could have something to say about that is Roger Williams. Kaya Haddad looked stellar for the Eagles scoring nine tries at a tournament hosted by Boston College at which RWU finished in first place. Players like Natalia Comiskey and Danielle Vogt make Roger Williams very dangerous.

Marist and Norwich should also be competitive, and you can never count out the Fightin’ Elizabeth Crawfords of Binghamton University.

The Fairfield Stags have already punched their ticket to Maryland and have looked good doing it. They’ll be in contention for a top three finish and it will be interesting to see how they look against a potential champion in Coast Guard should they cross paths.

‍

Womens DIII

The DIII women’s bracket also features a defending national champion in the Endicott Gulls. Marin Shaffer, Laryssa Landmesser and Colleen Mitchell will lead the title defense for the Gulls that will most likely start with a win at this tournament.

Yale pushed Endicott in the fall, and could potentially do so again this weekend, but they did lose to Endicott 34-0 at an earlier tournament. Colby College and standout center Leila Gerry are another potential wrench in the works for Endicott, though they have not tested themselves against the same level of competition as Endicott has this Spring.

‍

Fox 7s

Another Women’s DIII team will join the winner of the Nor’Easter 7s tournament if they can take the top spot at Fox 7s hosted by Niagara.

Baldwin Wallace and super-stud Molly Cancian have already secured their spot at the CRC’s so a win here won’t do much more for them other than add to the incredible wave of momentum they have already generated. That leaves the door open for someone like the hosts, Niagara, who have tested themselves against tough competition, from the Premier Cup level all the way down to DII, through two tournaments this Spring.

The Purple Foxes were very close to making it out of the second round at the CRC’s in 2025 and, with All-American Kenzie Addley and All-Stars Emma McNab and Anna Jones, they could be primed to make another deep run beginning with a win at their home tournament.

‍

Franklin and Marshall 7s

The final Women’s DIII automatic bid handed out this weekend will go to the winner of the Franklin and Marshall 7s tournament, which features two CRC stalwarts in East Stroudsburg and York College. ESU has been on a tear so far this year, finishing their last tournament with an undefeated record and a point differential of 186-0. Sara Shook had eight tries for the Warriors while Ashlyn Mugavero added six tries and nine conversions.

York College were the EPRU champs last year, but were unlucky to run into Baldwin Wallace in the first round of the CRC. Loyola Maryland, Scranton, Lafayette College, Millersville, and Susquehanna round out the field along with hosts Franklin and Marshall.

‍

Written by Zach Lanning of The College Rugby Show