NIRA Finals Bring Improving Challengers to Face Championship Regulars

11.14.2026College Women

Harvard vs Dartmouth NIRA 2026 Photo Ryan DeSantis for Harvard Athletics.

Two of the NIRA's most dangerous players, Lauren Cheng tackles Sana'a Lunon. Photo Ryan DeSantis.

Author: Alex Goff

Can the old guard hold on?

Saturday's slate of games include the NIRA DI semifinals, with three-time defending champions Harvard hosting AIC and Dartmouth, finalists in four of the last five NIRA DI seasons (winning twice) hosting Army West Point.

So Harvard and Dartmouth are auld enemies and the old guard. What about the other two?

AIC won DII the last two years and also won that division back in 2021. The Yellowjackets worked out a deal with NIRA to play a DI schedule and this was worked out nicely for them. Under new Associate Head Coach (and 2025 captain) Nikki Rutter-Truxall, working with DOR Jameson Bonti, have opened up their attack and gone 4-2 in the season.

They lost to Dartmouth and Harvard, while their biggest victory was a 33-32 nailbiter against Sacred Heart sealed by Naomi Dodd's late try and Camryn Henderson's conversion.

Mahina Hafoka put the first five points on the board with a try just five minutes into the game, and AIC built from there. Kayla Molisi, Naomi Dodd, and Hafoka each scored before the 30-minute mark, with Camryn Henderson converting after each for a 26-0 lead, and Vanessa Aguilera scored another try just before halftime, with a Henderson conversion that pushed AIC's edge to 33-0 at the break.

That is a familiar combination for AIC as Dodd has scored 14 tries in her team's six matches, while Henderson has scored four and totaled a further 41 points with the boot for a season total of 61.

As for Harvard? They may have won three titles in a row and had the MA Sorensen Award winner as collegiate player of the year graduate (Tiahna Padilla), but they are as good as they have ever been. They were shaky against Sacred Heart in their opener, which they won 26-24, put in some fixes and since them have been on top.

The Crimson beat Brown, Dartmouth, Navy, and Lindenwood by an average score of 49-12. AIC did push them 38-24 back on October 30 but that was a game Harvard didn't need to win to be 1st.

No. 8 Gemma Ogoka and wing Morgan Gibson have led the team in tries but it's the teamwork on attack and, especially, defense that has marshaled Harvard through an undefeated (so far) season.

Black Knights W

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Big Green

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AIC YellowJackets

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Harvard

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Dartmouth, for their part, have gone 5-1 in NIRA action plus a competitive loss to Life in a non-conference game. They beat Army 41-8 in the opening weekend of the season and with scrumhalf Annie Henrich running the attack, center Marley Larkin and wing Lauren Cheng have both topped a try a game.

It's Dartmouth's power in the pack that leads the way, and they'll need it because this is a very improved Army side. What Head Coach Jenn Salomon-Clayton did was get as much game time as possible for her charges. So second-squad games and non-player-relevant games against Guelph, La Salle, LIU, Vassar, and Royal Military College of Canada all gave more players the opportunity to be Black Knights on the pitch.

The Army side lost three of those games, but that wasn't the point. The point was to play and learn.

Meanwhile, in the conference games, Army bounced back from the Dartmouth loss with wins over Sacred Heart, Queens, Lindenwood, and Navy put them into the playoffs. That 12-5 win against Lindenwood was a massive defensive effort.
Center Yesenia Morales has been brilliant this year, and she was a Sorensen finalist last year.

Emily Steen has proved an effective goalkicking and conductor. But the key is the Black Knights have solidly taken steps. Will they beat Dartmouth this time around? A 33-point deficit is tough to overcome, but it has happened. Certainly this semi should be closer than the opener.