Not only is the Marymount University Saints’ flag football team undefeated this spring — the second-year squad has not allowed a point through nine games.
The Division III squad has outscored its opponents, 310-0, with its most recent win a 39-0 victory over Holy Family University in Philadelphia. Marymount’s closest game was a 12-0 road win over Eastern University.
Marymount defeated a University of Virginia team, 47-0, in non-conference action.
The Saints have four regular-season games remaining before the four-team Atlantic East Conference tournament, of which Marymount is the defending champion.
If Marymount continues winning and becomes the top seed, the one-day tournament could be played at Bishop O’Connell High School on April 26 or 27.
O’Connell is Marymount’s home field.
Marymount’s flag team was formed in about a two-month stretch last year. The only two games the Saints played last spring were in the conference tournament, which they won by 51-0 and 52-0 scores.
This year, head coach Mike Rivera had much more time to assemble his squad, which consists of 26 players. Many are from other Marymount women’s teams like basketball, swimming, wrestling, tennis and soccer. Six players are from the basketball unit.
“We have been able to put teams together and we have experience, have some really good athletes and have been ready to go from the start, while other programs are still figuring everything out,” Rivera told ARLnow. “We’ve had a good season so far, and we want to stay focused and win the tournament again.”
Rivera said Marymount initially assembled its team by recruiting athletes from within the school. Now the process has begun in full of recruiting players in a more traditional manner.
Rivera is a familiar name in connection with flag football in Arlington. He has coached youth teams in the county that have won national championships.
Some of Marymount’s top players have been quarterback Cara Vollmer in addition to Kayla Barr, Carly Rivera, Ashley Ayala-Mata, Jaylah Thompson, Leslie Villegas, Clara Detweiler, Cara Craig, Yesly Xante, Samantha Bulik, Ingrid Penn, Avery DeFazio and Yariliz Torres.
Vollmer, Barr, Thompson and Bulik were on the women’s basketball team this past winter season.
