Fort Collins took their undefeated record and number one seed into the semi-final against number four seed Chaparral and came away with a victory 36 to 14 to advance to Colorado Rugby State Championship on Saturday at the Glendale Rugby Stadium (Infinity Park) where they will take on number two seed Summit at 3:30 p.m. Fort Collins kicked off and put pressure on Chaparral right away but good tackling by Chaparral stopped several potential chances at scores. After a turnover by Fort Collins, Chaparral attempted to get the ball out wide but Katie Novey picked off the pass and was able to break a couple tackles and score the first try of the night, with Sadie Anderson’s kick Fort Collins was up 7-0. After the kickoff Fort Collins moved the ball back down the pitch and after a penalty for offsides by Chaparral and several phases of play by Fort Collins inside the five, Hannah Wilson picked the ball up from the ruck and dove in for the try to
push the lead up to 12-0. Chaparral kicked off and started putting pressure on Fort Collins deep in their territory and with a penalty inside the five they did a kick tap and was able to push their way in for a try and tighten the lead to 12-7. Fort Collins kicked off and quickly recovered when just a couple minutes later Maddie Robinson sliced her way through the defense for a try and with Sadie’s conversion the lead was 19-7. With only a few minutes left in the half Fort Collins was once again in Chaparral territory when Maddie made a break and with great support was able to get a pass off to Hannah and she drew in more of the defense and made a nice pass to Morgan Ackley to complete the try and a 24-7 halftime lead.
Second half saw Chaparral kickoff and their defense stiffened with good tackling and pressure. After about five minutes into the second half Chaparral had some good passes and was able to score their second try of the night and cut the lead to 24-14. Match then became defense and when Fort Collins had a scrum around midfield Hannah picked the ball and went weak with support and after a nice run to draw the defense in passed the ball to Caitlin Chvatal to finish the try and stretch the lead out to 29-14. Fort Collins wasn’t finished and late in the match Sadie went right up the middle and side stepped and broke several tackles to score under the posts and with the conversion the match ended with the final score of 36-14.
