North American Rugby Database

Report

The New York Exiles travel to Benedictine University to face the Chicago Tempest during Round 8 of the 2026 WER season.

This is the second meeting of the 2026 season between these teams, having met in a Round 3 clash at Mount Vernon Memorial Stadium where the Exiles picked up one of their 2 victories so far this season with a 40-19 win at home. New York hold a 3-0 lead in this match-up all time heading into this game but there isn’t much that separates these two sides so far this year. The Exiles are sat 4th with a 2-5 record and 10pts, while the Tempest are in 6th with a 1-6 record and 6pts. Both sides will be desperate for a win here and if the Tempest claim it, it would be their first win over the Exiles and just their 2nd victory as a franchise.

The Exiles got off to a dream start, with Nic Carroll crossing just a minute in and Jetta Owens adding the extras to give the visitors a 0-7 lead almost immediately. It would be almost 15 minutes before another score, as Gracie Anderson got the Tempest on the board but the conversion sailed off target, so the Exiles hold on to a narrow 5-7. Not for long! Around 5 minutes later the Exiles hit back and extend their lead to 5-14 which they would take to the HT break, points being hard to come by in this game. the 2nd half was much the same and it was clear that both these sides were desperate for a win and quite evenly matched. It would be the Exiles that opened the second half scoring and extended their lead to 5-19 from a Chloe Jex score in the 50th minute, and New York were slowly but surely pulling away. The Tempest however, had other ideas. As the game entered it’s final quarter, Caoilfhionn Morrissey crossed for Chicago and the Kalie Korpitz conversion cut the gap to 7pts. The momentum gradually shifted over to the Tempest and 10 minutes later, Morrissey crossed for her 2nd of the game and Marin Cohan nailed the extras to tie the game up at 19-19.

This is how the 80 minutes finished. However, for the first time in WER history, the Golden Point rule came into effect. The game continued, with the first team to score the next points declared the winner. After coming back from a 14pt deficit, it was heartbreak for the Chicago Tempest as Misha Green-Yotts, the first try scorer in WER history, crossed for the exiles to become the first Golden Point scorer in WER history and claim both the bonus point and the victory for the New York Exiles in the 88th minute of play. The Tempest, so close to a win, take a losing BP and move up to 5th in teh standings, while the Exiles solidify their 4th place spot, improving to 3-5.