Report

The Inaugural Women’s Elite Rugby season concludes with the first ever Legacy Cup Match between the Denver Onyx and the New York Exiles at TCO Stadium in Minnesota!

The #1 seeded Denver Onyx enter this game on the back of a phenomenal 9-1 regular season, earning 46 of a maximum 50pts in the standings with a huge points differential of +367. Their only loss of the season came against the New York Exiles, their opponents in this game. The Exiles scraped into the Legacy Cup by a single point, recording 33pts and a 6-4 record with a points difference of -3. These teams have met twice in the past, splitting the 2025 regular season series 1-1. Now meeting for a 3rd time on neutral ground, who will be crowned as Women’s Elite Rugby Legacy Cup Champions?

The New York Exiles came out firing, and opened the scoring through a Misha Green-Yotts try 12 minutes in, converted by Jetta Owens. Aly Cunningham added a penalty 5 minutes later and the Exiles took a 0-10 lead early on. The Onyx shook this off and hit back through a Kapoina Bailey try just before the first hydration break, and Carly Waters added a second just after, to erase the deficit and take a 14-10 lead. Both sides settled into the game, and Cunningham added another 3pts for New York to reduce the Onyx lead to just 1pt. A few minutes later however, Onyx Winger Nana Fa’avesi decided that the fun was over. She scored in the 37th minute and again right before half time to give Denver a commanding 24-13 lead at the break.

Unfortunately for the Exiles, the Denver Onyx started the second half just as they finished the first. Tries in the 45th and 48th minutes took the score to 38-13 and seemed to shatter the morale of the Exiles side. Just as they had done almost all season, the Onyx showed little mercy, adding another score in the 58th minute and despite already being up by 32pts they showed no mercy, adding an 8th try in the 83rd minute to cement a dominant 53-13 victory and claiming the first Legacy Cup title!

Details

Date Time League Season
July 8, 2025 12:56 pm Women's Elite Rugby WER 2025

Results

TeamTriesConversionsPenalty KickTBLBPoints
Onyx8511053
Exiles1120013

Onyx

# Player Position T C P AC DG MG Tackles KS/KA Pts
1Maya Learned 17Prop000000000
2Saher Hamdan 16Hooker000000000
3Sheila Decker 18Prop000000000
4Hallie Taufo’ou 20Lock100000005
5Rachel EhreckeLock100000005
6Kapoina Bailey 21Flanker100000005
7Tahlia BrodyFlanker000000000
8Rachel JohnsonNumber 8000000000
9Carly WatersScrum-half100000005
10Mckenzie HawkinsFly-half15100006/918
11KB Slaughter 23Wing000000000
12Kennedy Feasby 22Center000000000
13Julie TordonatoCenter000000000
14Joanna Fa’avesiWing2000000010
15Kristin BitterFullback000000000
16Gianna Solomon 2Hooker000000000
17Mikaela Hall 1Prop000000000
18Laura Lavigne 3Prop000000000
19Caroline BullockLock000000000
20Amy Spafford 4Flanker000000000
21Carson Hann 6Flanker000000000
22Alessandra Bender-Cruz 12Fly-half100000005
23Kelsie O’Brien 11Scrum-half000000000
 Total 85100006/953

Exiles

# Player Position T C P AC DG MG Tackles KS/KA Pts
1Kayla Hunkin-Clark 17Prop000000000
2Jessie Ruiz 18Hooker000000000
3Tiara A’au 16Prop000000000
4Chloe JexLock000000000
5Jess SaludLock000000000
6Daisy Titus 20Flanker000000000
7Gio Cruz 19Flanker000000000
8Misha Green-YottsNumber 8100000005
9Maggie Ribardo 21Scrum-half000000000
10Alyssa CunninghamFly-half00200002/26
11Veronica Blair 22Wing000000000
12Jetta OwensCenter01000001/12
13Sophie FrickCenter000000000
14Scout CheeksWing000000000
15Tess FeuryFullback000000000
16Faith Morley 3Hooker000000000
17Emily Brower 1Prop000000000
18Corina Kaiser 2Prop000000000
19Cari Pick 7Lock000000000
20Justina DeBruzzi 6Flanker000000000
21Sarah Minahan 9Scrum-half000000000
22Allysa O’Neill 11Center000000000
23Shamira RoblesFlanker000000000
 Total 11200003/313

Venue

TCO Stadium
2685 Vikings Cir Suite 200, Eagan, MN 55121, United States