BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – The Long Island University women's rugby team opens its 2019 season with a trip to Providence, Rhode Island, to take on Brown University on Saturday, August 31 at 12 p.m. at Marvel Field.
Notes on the Sharks
The 2019-20 season will be third season of LIU women's rugby and the first as an NCAA Division I institution.
The Sharks are coached by
Colleen Doherty, who begins her first 15s season at LIU after taking over head coaching duties in January. She is assisted by
Lindey Wise, who joined last spring after serving as an assistant coach at Sacred Heart University.
LIU returns ten members of the 2018-19 squad along with eight newcomers, including junior
Natalie Hickman who was a member of the women's basketball team at LIU Post and redshirt sophomore
Amanda Arena who was a member of the softball team at LIU Post. With open tryouts commencing shortly, LIU will likely add more members to its squad in the coming weeks.
From the Coach
"Since the beginning of preseason, the team has been working extremely hard to prepare for our inaugural year competing as an NCAA Division I program," said head coach
Colleen Doherty. "We have implemented an entirely new offensive structure which the team embraced immediately and has since been fine tuning it to fit to our team strengths. We open up our season against a very seasoned Brown University team and expect this match to be very competitive and set us on track to a successful fall match schedule. The team is energized by the fact that they are in a unique position to start the legacy of the LIU Sharks women's rugby team and are eager to make their splash in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) conference this Saturday.
Academic Success
Last week, NIRA announced it's All-Academic Team for the 2018-19 season and four members of the LIU women's rugby team were honored. Seniors
Janine Gelles and
Caitlin Johnstone along with sophomores
Chanel Lubsey and
Sydney Long garnered recognition. In order to receive honors, student-athletes must have eanred a 3.5 GPA and appeared in at least 50 percent of their team's matches.
The Roster
At prop LIU welcomes back sophomores
Tatyanna Ogbue and
Cayleigh Kunmann from the 2018-19 roster along with freshman
Aliyah Corral. Fellow returners Gelles and sophomore
Brianna Thomas will both see time at hooker.
Long and Arena, who appeared at the 2019 NCAA Division II Softball Championship, will start at lock. At the loose forward positions, sophomores
Abigail Timmins and
Calah Turpin along with freshmen
Haniyah Baugh and
Sara-Grace McCannon will be relied upon.
LIU's back line will be led by Lubsey, who will call the shots from the scrumhalf position. She will be joined by freshman flyhalf
Lynsey Danko while Johnstone will build off an impressive spring season in the centers. Junior
Natalie Hickman, a crossover athlete from basketball, will also see time in the centers for LIU.
LIU has speed out wide with
Maqueisha Gillet slated to play on the wing. Gelles will also see time on the wing while at fullback freshmen duo
Nakoya Hayes and
Tyanna Middleton are expected to contribute.
Scouting Brown
The Bears are coached by Kathy Flores, who is assisted by Christine Newcomb. They welcome back NIRA Tier I All-American Zy Thomas and 17 returners from last season's squad.
In 2018, Brown went 2-5. The Bears earned a 26-19 victory over Sacred Heart University on Saturday, September 8 and a 38-27 win over West Chester University on Saturday, September 22. Brown fell in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) quarterfinals 17-15 to Dartmouth University on Saturday, November 10.
