Belated: MARFU U23 Developmental team at Ruggerfest

I know I'm late posting, so my apologies to everyone for the delay ...

Three weeks ago the MARFU U-23 Women's All Star program entered a developmental team into the DC Furies Ruggerfest tournament.

We played two women's club sides on Saturday, coming out of our first game with a squeaker of a win against a terrific Norfolk side, and then faced Chesapeake women in our second match, winning by 4 tries.

That put us in the semi-finals on Sunday against the Maryland Stingers, a D1 area club side. We came out strong, with wing Rachel Miller blazing into the tryzone after a quick turnover ball, but the experience and physicallity of the Maryland side proved too much for us to overcome. In the end they got the best of us by 4 tries, in a game that really

Though it was disappointing not to make the finals, it was a great experience for everyone. Seeing the performance and team camaraderie develop and improve as the weekend unfolded was quite the positive experience. This was a very young MARFU team, with only a few veteran players (*). Congrats to everyone involved, but especially to :

Moira Somerdyk, MVP Back
Stephanie Petrides, MVP Forward
Nicole Coffineau, Most Improved Player
Amber "Sass" Morgan, Most Impactful

Also, special thanks to Katy Welter and Sheri Villa, our captains, and to Emily Sabato, our hard working manager, and to Catholic University, for use of their practice field.

(Congratulations to Shippensburg University, who several players slated to attend, but instead brought home a D2 National Championship!)

MARFU U23 Developmental:

Sarah Buhlam (front row) - Chesapeake, PRU
Brittany Buffalino (flyhalf, center)- LaSalle, EPRU
Dominique Bunai (back row) - Virginia Tech, VRU
Nicole "Carrot aka Vegan" Coffieneu (second row) - Virginia Tech, VRU
Allison Dolan (front row) - Philadelphia Women, EPRU
Alison Floyd (second row) - LaSalle, EPRU
Kate "TK" Hallinan (wing) - Philadelphia Women, EPRU
Lauren McLaughlin (wing) - Temple, EPRU
Brittany McKenna (fullback, wing) - LaSalle, EPRU
Rachel Miller (wing) - University of Virginia, VRU
Amber "Sass" Morgan (front row) - Virginia Tech, VRU
Maria "MR" Muscara (center) - LaSalle, EPRU
Kaitlin Parliman (front row, second row) - Temple, ERPU
Stephanie Petrides (back row) - American, PRU
Beleny Reese (wing )- Virginia Tech, VRU
Meghan "Football" See (front row) - Virginia Tech, VRU
Sarah Shanley (scrum half) - Virginia Commonwealth, VRU
Moira Somerdyk (center) - Temple, EPRU
Shannon Sulkovsky (back row, lock) - Kutztown, EPRU
Sherri Villa (back row & captain) - American, PRU
Rachel Von Vital (scrum half, wing) - Temple, ERPU
Katy Welter (fullback & captain) - Georgetown

Staff:
Lisa Rosen - Head Coach
Roshna Wunderlich - Asst. Coach
Chris Herrmann - Asst. Coach
Kristin Aliberto - Asst. Coach
Emily Sabato - Manager