Middlebury College Rugby Club

Middlebury squeezes out the win to advance to the DII National Championship Final against UW-Whitewater. Salisbury come out firing, Middlebury bounces back and wins the first half through great running by their backline. 26 – 14 at halftime. Intense pressure by Salisbury forces errors out of Middlebury but the boys in blue do enough to hold on, desperately but effectively, for the win: 29 – 26.

The final will be at 2 PM tomorrow at Founder’s Field.

You can watch replays of today’s game and tomorrow’s live game online at http://www.ustream.com/usarugby.

Middlebury takes on Salisbury in the DII National Championship semi-final at Founders Field in Pittsburgh, PA. These two teams met in the corresponding fixture in 2007 in Sanford, FL. Middlebury, eventual national champions, beat Salisbury in that game 49 – 14. Four years on and anyone who played in that game has now moved on.

All of the DII men’s and women’s semi-final and final games will be streamed online at http://www.ustream.tv/usarugby.

Kick-off for the Middlebury semi-final is at 3:15 PM.

Back in 2009, Middlebury beat USF in the quarterfinal of the National Championships 32 – 17. Two years later in the same fixture, the DII National Championship quarterfinal, Middlebury once again dispels a formidable USF side with an almost identical score line: 38 points to 14. The MCRC comes out slugging, with a ravenous hunger and determination that this writer cannot attest to having witnessed before. The defense is doggedly unrelenting – the attack is innovative and turbocharged. The unorthodox, incomprehensible genius that is Head Coach John “Chipolati” Phillips takes another roll of his magic 28 sided die and up pops the idea to move his scrumhalf back to flyhalf–after having moved him from scrumhalf to flyhalf at the beginning of the fall and back to scrumhalf at the end of the fall–the timing of such a change? “Madness”, one might (and some do) say–”lucky”, one might (and some do) refute–”brilliant”, no one can deny.

Captain Brian “Downtown Dagger” Sirkia ’12.5 is once again more than apt in front of goals and has that old spark to his step with ball in hand. Allan “El Naturel” Stafford ’13.5 puts in another m-o-m worthy performance, showing my good friend speed what quick really is; and just in case speed was not convinced by El Naturel, Dane “Juan En Don” Steel ’11 gets in on the velocity act. Hitmakers Sam “Overlap” Harrison ’11 and Zach “Business Casual Jr.” Bills ’11 get the party started on defense and keep the hits coming all game long: the defensive performance by Middlebury, as led by Bills and Harrison, is possessed. All that said, the true orchestrator on offense and defense is scrumhalf Don “Oye Mi Canto” Song ’13 – playing through an early injury Donny directs the team to a definitive victory.

Full match report below:

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Middlebury beats St. Joseph’s University of Philadelphia 34 – 5 in the Division II National Championship Round of 16. Middlebury led from the beginning thanks to an almost flawless kicking performance by captain Brian Sirkia ’12.5. In the first half Brian went 5 for 6 including a bomb from 45 meters out and about 10 meters from the sideline – easily the play of the game. St. Joe’s threatened to make a comeback as the first half closes but the second half is one way traffic on the scoreboard. The boys in blue have played better and credit to St. Joe’s for frustrating Middlebury for stretches, not allowing the blue backline much ball. However, in the second half, fitness and patience turns to tries for Middlebury. Geoff “King” Kalan ’12.5, Ross “Bo$$” Berriman ’12 and Ben “Stunners” Cmejla ’11 each touching down.

The writer is not one for handing out man-of-the-match nods but if one is forced to single out a Middlebury player or two Sirkia and winger Allan “El Naturel” Stafford ’13.5 would be on the shortlist. Stafford is key on defense, making several crucial tackles to quell St. Joe’s resurgence and when he’s on the ball he is a spectacle. Stafford is unlucky not to add his name to the scoreboard after he gets the ball near the sideline. He leaves his opposite man for dead with a purely malevolent in-and-out step, he throws a fend-off to finish and it’s off to the races. From everyone’s perspective he does a phenomenal job of staying in the field of play…everyone except the man who counts: the touch judge. He raises a late, controversial flag to end Stafford’s run prematurely.

Full report below:

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Follow themcrc on twitter for live score updates: http://twitter.com/themcrc

Tomorrow The MCRC gets on a plane to sunny Florida to take on St. Joe’s in the National Championship Round of 16. The game is at 2 PM this Saturday, April 16 at the Austin Tindall Regional Park (click here for directions.) Game is on Field 6. This is the first meeting between these two teams.

Saturday’s winner will go on to the Sunday quarterfinal game where they will meet the winner of the Bentley vs. University of Southern Florida game (1 PM kick-off at the same venue.)

First round of the Div II Men’s National Championship playoffs will be on April 16 (sweet 16) and April 17 (quarterfinal) in 2011. The semis and final will happen over the April 30 – May 1, 2011 weekend. The venues were just announced – back in Florida for the first rounds; a new location in Pittsburgh for the semis and finals:

April 16-17: Sweet 16 & Quarterfinals – Seminole Soccer Complex Sanford, FL

April 30-May 1: Semi-finals and finals – Founders Field Pittsburgh, PA

For more information on the Championship venues for all divisions check out the rugbymag article:

The MCRC are the Northeast Champions! Another superb performance by the boys in blue. Captains Brian Sirkia and Rowan Kelner are presented with a plaque and 8th Man Chris Marshall gets the game ball as man-of-the-match.

Full report below.

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A commanding performance by the Blue today as they defeated Bentley by 44 points to 17 in the Northeast Semifinal. Not only did this win secure Middlebury’s place in the NRU final tomorrow (Saturday, October 14) but it also ensured Middlebury’s qualification for the National Championship sweet 16 in the spring.

The new look Middlebury offense with captain Brian Sirkia ’12.5 at 9 and Dusty Attwood-Dupont ’13.5 at 10 is clicking; this recent change allows Ross “Bo$$” Berriman ’12 to return to the loose trio and means Middlebury has the luxury of bringing forwards captain Rowan Kelner ’12 off the bench–with that sort of depth they should be calling the Blue the Deep Blue Sea. Tries by Nat “Sheed” Kelner ’12, Ross “Bo$$” Berriman ’12, Zach “Business Casual Jr.” Bills ’11,  Geoff “King” Kalan ’12.5, Chris Marshall & Sam Harrison ’11. Sirkia converts two penalties and four conversions.

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In the Northeast final Middlebury lost to UVM by 4 points.  Middlebury comes back from 3 – 14 to lead by 1 point with 20 minutes left.  With 10 minutes left UVM scores a good try spreading the ball wide from a turnover midfield just inside the Middlebury half.

Both teams had played tough games the day before in miserable weather, Middlebury beating Stony Brook 11 – 0, UVM coming back in the final quarter to beat New England Champs UMass-Amherst 15 – 10.  Beautiful weather for the NRU final and both teams coaches met an hour before the original kick-off time to discuss delaying the game to get a better, playable field.  The 3rd clash of these Northeast titans is delayed for 1 1/2 hours.

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