The second weekend of the 2026 National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) women’s rugby season produced some enormous scorelines, a second-half comeback at West Point and a revealing non-conference test for Dartmouth.
Six NIRA-related matches were played from September 11–13, including four league games, Dartmouth’s non-conference meeting with Life University and an exhibition between La Salle and Army.
Weekend Results
| Date | Match | Final | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept. 13 | LIU at Princeton | Princeton 91–0 | NIRA |
| Sept. 12 | Brown at Harvard | Harvard 76–0 | NIRA |
| Sept. 12 | Queens vs. Lindenwood | Lindenwood 103–5 | NIRA |
| Sept. 12 | Davenport at West Chester | Davenport 44–0 | NIRA |
| Sept. 12 | Life at Dartmouth | Life 49–22 | Non-Conference |
| Sept. 11 | La Salle at Army | La Salle 27–7 | Exhibition |
Princeton 91, LIU 0
Sunday, September 13 | NIRA
Princeton closed the weekend with its second emphatic victory in as many games, defeating LIU 91–0 in its home opener.
The Tigers had already opened the Karameli Fa’ae’e era with a 52–17 victory at La Salle, a match in which Charlie Wolfe scored three tries and Ava Gregory added two.
Sunday’s result moved Princeton to 2–0 and pushed its scoring total to 143 points through two matches, with 17 conceded.
Detailed individual scoring information from Sunday’s match was not immediately available through the school’s published coverage, so Rugby Fan Central will not attribute tries or other individual statistics until they can be verified.
Final: Princeton 91, LIU 0
Harvard 76, Brown 0
Saturday, September 12 | NIRA
Harvard scored 13 tries in a 76–0 shutout of Brown in Cambridge.
Gemma Ogoke led the Crimson with a hat trick, while Sana’a Lunon and Maya Hilger scored twice apiece. Harvard led 40–0 at halftime and continued to add points after the break.
The result followed a very different opening-week victory for Harvard, which had needed a late defensive stand to escape Sacred Heart with a 26–24 win.
Brown, meanwhile, entered Saturday after opening its season with a 33–17 victory over Navy.
Harvard’s victory extended its winning streak to 15 matches and moved the defending NIRA champions to 2–0.
Final: Harvard 76, Brown 0
Lindenwood 103, Queens 5
Saturday, September 12 | NIRA
Lindenwood broke the century mark in its first NIRA league match of the season, defeating Queens 103–5 in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Ava Reuter and Mia Saige Topasna scored inside the opening nine minutes before Queens answered with a try to cut the margin to 12–5.
It would be Queens’ only score.
Samantha Levine responded three minutes later, and Domniki Platis, Sarin Rowland and Reuter added first-half tries as Lindenwood took a 34–5 lead into halftime.
The Lions then scored 69 unanswered points in the second half, adding 11 tries.
Lindenwood moved to 2–0 overall and 1–0 in NIRA play following its season-opening 51–0 victory over Southern Nazarene.
Final: Lindenwood 103, Queens 5
Davenport 44, West Chester 0
Saturday, September 12 | NIRA
Davenport opened NIRA play with a 44–0 road victory over West Chester.
It was the Panthers’ first NIRA result of the season and gave Davenport a winning start to its league schedule.
Detailed individual scoring information was not immediately available through the public school reports reviewed by Rugby Fan Central. RFC is therefore recording the confirmed final without attributing unverified individual statistics.
Final: Davenport 44, West Chester 0
Life 49, Dartmouth 22
Saturday, September 12 | Non-Conference
Dartmouth’s 49–22 loss to Life University was considerably closer through the opening 40 minutes than the final score suggests.
Life struck first, but Lauren Cheng answered with a chip-and-chase try and Annie Henrich converted to put Dartmouth ahead 7–5.
After Life regained the lead, Vasiti Turagavou scored for Dartmouth. Henrich’s conversion made it 14–10, and she later kicked a penalty to extend the Big Green advantage to 17–10.
Life answered before halftime to make it 17–17 at the break.
The Running Eagles took control in the second half, building a 39–17 advantage before Henrich crossed in the 64th minute. Life added two more tries to complete the victory.
Henrich finished with 12 Dartmouth points from a try, two conversions and a penalty.
The game was a deliberately difficult non-conference test for Dartmouth against Life, the reigning CRAA Division I 15s national champion. Because Life is not a NIRA member, the result does not affect Dartmouth’s NIRA league record.
Final: Life 49, Dartmouth 22
La Salle 27, Army 7
Friday, September 11 | Exhibition
La Salle produced the comeback of the weekend at West Point.
Army led 7–0 at halftime after Samantha Strickler scored in the 38th minute and Emily Vizcarra converted.
La Salle responded with 27 unanswered second-half points.
Alyssa Williams scored in the 59th minute and Jocelyn Terry converted to tie the match. Maeve Delaney crossed nine minutes later, with Terry’s conversion putting the Explorers ahead 14–7.
Williams added her second try in the 73rd minute. Terry kicked a penalty before Josie Hanks completed the scoring with a try in the 80th minute.
Williams finished with two tries, while Terry contributed seven points from two conversions and a penalty.
For La Salle, it was a strong response after opening the season with a 52–17 loss to Princeton.
Final: La Salle 27, Army 7
By the Numbers
Key numbers from the September 11–13 NIRA rugby weekend.
RELATED NIRA COVERAGE: Rugby Fan Central examined the gaps in NIRA’s public match coverage and statistics as the 2026 season got underway. Read: NIRA’s 2026 Season Is Underway. Its Public Coverage Isn’t. →
Weekend Takeaways
The weekend provided more evidence about several teams, but September results still come with an important warning: the NIRA season is only two weeks old.
Harvard has already won two very different games — surviving Sacred Heart 26–24 before overwhelming Brown. Princeton is 2–0 under new head coach Karameli Fa’ae’e, while Lindenwood has opened its season without allowing a try until Queens crossed early Saturday.
Dartmouth’s result is more interesting than a 49–22 loss might initially suggest. The Big Green deliberately stepped outside NIRA to play Life and were level with the reigning CRAA Division I champion after 40 minutes before the Running Eagles pulled away.
La Salle also provided something the weekend’s biggest scorelines did not: a genuine comeback. The Explorers went from scoreless and seven points behind at halftime to a 20-point victory.
There is far too much rugby remaining to draw conclusions about the postseason, but the opening two weekends have started to give us a baseline for what comes next.
Rugby Fan Central will continue tracking NIRA fixtures, results, rankings and match coverage throughout the 2026 women’s college rugby season.
