There is no hotter team in D-II National Collegiate Women’s Rugby than the Roger Williams University Hawks.

After an unprecedented championship run last season that included three separate tournament wins and a first-place finish at nationals, they went even bigger this year, going on a run of 13 consecutive victories through the spring tournament season that culminated in a nationals performance over the weekend where they smashed their opponents to the tune of 111 total points scored versus just 10 points allowed over four games.

“With the level of talent that they had, I knew that we were even better than the team last year, but I also felt that the team last year had all of this heart and I was honestly I was a little worried that they wouldn't have it in them,” said Coach Cait Mallahan, who played with the team throughout her studies at RWU before graduating in 2021 and becoming head coach. “But then when we got there, they kind of just turned on this switch and were like, ‘We need to get this job done.’”

Mallahan said that the cold, wet weather the team experienced throughout the spring tournament series served them well going into a similarly cold and dreary nationals weekend outside of D.C. Even more so, Mallahan took some inspiration from another sports icon with a championship pedigree during practice sessions.

“We would bring big jugs of water. I would fill them up before I left my house and I would douse the balls,” Mallahan said. The tactic was commonly used by Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots when practicing for inclement weather in outdoor games.

The approach certainly helped them during the recent “Beast of the East” tournament, which takes place each year in Portsmouth and attracts the best collegiate rugby teams from around the nation.

“It was pouring rain,” Mallahan said of that tournament’s final game, a victory over UCONN. “It was 50 degrees, you know that Portsmouth, Bristol weather. And we just had that fight, knowing we're going to do what it takes and we’re gonna win it no matter what.”

In D.C. for the nationals tournament, the Hawks blanked their first two opponents, Shippensburg and the University of Texas-San Antonio, by scores of 39-0 and 38-0. They then beat Grand Valley State 24-5, before Beating Colorado School of Mines 10-5 for the repeat title.

Mallahan thinks the sky is the limit for the team going forward.

“I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I think that there is absolutely a great chance for a three-peat,” she said, taking a moment to thank the Roger Williams Student Senate for helping finance their trip to D.C. “I'm still kind of speechless, but it's just such an exciting thing to be a part of. I love watching them and coaching them.”

Per the Hawks release on the win, Sophomore Bianca Caprio (Midland Park, N.J.) led the weekend for the Hawks, tallying six tries and four conversions for 28 total points. Natalia Comiskey (Clinton, Conn.) closed the weekend with six tries while also being rewarded for a strong defensive performance as the team's sweeper, earning the title of Division II Tournament MVP.