"Hard defense and tackling well is the first step to throwing any team back," Esty said.
To advance to the national final, Radcliffe must repel Princeton, the two-time defending champion, in the first round.
Last year Radcliffe nearly accomplished that feat.
"We took ourselves by surprise," Wallison said. "We could've won Nationals. But they intercepted a pass and that was the game."
Radcliffe's outlook on the tournament was different last year.
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"We thought it was nice going to Nationals. No one expected we'd be as good as other teams," Wallison recalled.
This year, though, the team wants to win.
"We're looking forward to Nationals," Wallison said. "When we play a strong fifteen [players], we're pretty unstoppable."