Penn State women eye 3d straight title

The Penn State women's rugby team didn't have much time to celebrate its fourth straight national championship.

Soon after beating Central Washington in the title game on May 9, the Nittany Lions jumped into a retooled training regimen with a reshaped roster.

The sevens season - a quicker brand of rugby played with seven players a side instead of the traditional 15 - was only a week away.

"It's a lot to ask for people to stay and practice and do sevens," PSU team president Katie Meuller said. Sevens, both men and women, will be an Olympic sport for the first time at the 2016 Games in Rio. "But it's a commitment that we make because we have fun and we get to go win championships."

That's been the case for Penn State the last two years, and the Nittany Lions will go for a third straight sevens title at the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship at PPL Park this weekend. The 12-team women's field will start pool play Friday morning and the champion will be crowned Sunday.

After beating James Madison for the 2014 championship, Penn State (32-2-1) is looking to use its conditioning and experience to cap another dominant season. Its first match will be against Notre Dame, at 11 a.m. Friday.

"I think it was perseverance for us last year," said Penn State sevens captain Gabby Cantorna. "With shorter seven-minute halves, there isn't a lot of time, but sevens is just about being willing to go and keep going."

During the quick turnaround from the 15-a-side version to sevens, Penn State implements shorter practices that simulate the faster game.

The Nittany Lions will press hard for seven minutes before taking a break and talking over strategy. Then they repeat that sequence to work on quick decision-making and conditioning.

In the last two years, that approach sent Penn State flying into the CRC, where opponents haven't been able to match their energy for the full 14 minutes.

"The tournament style of the CRC is just awesome," Cantorna said. "One of the best parts about it is that they make sure you're rested for the final."

She's fully expecting her team to get there again.