RSC Women's Flag Football Earns First-Ever Victory
ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Women’s Flag Football held off visiting Hartwick 31-28 to secure its first-ever victory as a program on Tuesday afternoon.
ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Women's Flag Football held off visiting Hartwick 31-28 to secure its first-ever victory as a program on Tuesday afternoon.
The contest between the two Empire 8 Conference rivals came down to the final play. Hartwick (2-1), down the aforementioned 31-28, had the ball at the RSC 16 with three seconds remaining on the clock. The connection through the air between the Hawks freshmen Audra Doll and Zoe Sullivan appeared to be good. However, Sullivan, wide open in the corner of the endzone, was deemed to not be in bounds when she corralled the Doll pass on the final play.
"I am incredibly proud of this team, said RSC Head Coach Denver Divens. "They resilence that they displayed regardless of the situation or the score gave us the chance to win. That tenacity, along with some big plays late, helped us come out with a victory at the end."
The thrilling finish was part of a back-and-forth final quarter, with four lead changes across the last 15:29 of regulation.
Junior Bianca Ricciuto (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central/SUNY Poly) tossed five touchdown passes to help the Gators come back from a pair of fourth quarter deficits. She was 24-of-37 for 242 yards through the air, and added eight rushes for 33 yards. The junior had six tackles and an interception defensively.
Three of her touchdown throws went to senior Aniyah Kelley (New Castle, DE/William Penn) including a 19-yard catch and run that put RSC up 31-28 with 37 seconds left. Kelley, a starter on the Gators women's basketball and women's volleyball squads, finished with seven catches for 100 yards. She led all players with four tackles for loss, two of which were sacks.
Sophomore Hailey Blake (Schenectady, NY/Colonie Central) and sophomore Kaleigh Dean (Salt Point, NY/FDR) also scored TDs for the Gators. After a 50-yard TD in the team's inaugural game on Friday vs. SUNY Brockport, Blake continued to be a home run threat, taking a Ricciuto second quarter pass 42 yards to pay dirt. She topped all participants with 11 tackles this afternoon.
After the visitors opened the scoring 10:35 into the contest, RSC put up the next 19 points to go up 19-8 early in the third quarter. Hartwick answered with the next two tuddys to hold a 21-19 advantage with 29 seconds remaining in the third stanza.
RSC (1-1) hosts SUNY Geneseo on Friday afternoon.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: Greco Construction is the inaugural sponsor of the Russell Sage College Women's Flag Football athletic program, the first of its kind in the Capital Region…Building on the momentum of the fastest-growing sport in the world, the multi-year agreement helped establish the 22nd athletic program at RSC…The 15-player roster features six student-athletes that compete on other Gator teams…The group includes Kelley, who started on the RSC Women's Volleyball and Women's Basketball teams, and freshman Isabella Clute (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen), a key contributor on the Gators' Women's Soccer and Women's Basketball squads...RSC hosted SUNY Brockport in the first-ever intercollegiate women's flag football game in New York State's Capital Region on Friday, March 27...The Gators, under the direction of Denver Divens, tallied the program's first triumph on March 31 vs. Hartwick by a score of 31-28.
