October 1, 2011: Middlebury vs. Bowdoin

FINAL SCORE: 10 – 62, loss

 

After a long, 5.5 hour bus ride on Saturday up to Bowdoin, Maine, we were excited to get off the bus and onto the pitch. We didn’t have too much time to warm up (it took us forever to find a locker room to use), but the upside was that the rain stopped for the entire duration of our A and B-side games against Bowdoin.

Unfortunately, we just couldn’t make ends meet throughout the game, and Bowdoin came out strong early on. They scored within the first 3 minutes of the game. Overall, they scored 6 tries in each half and made one of their conversion kicks for a total score of 62 points. Many of their tries were scored down the sideline by their quick wings, and they had a few big forwards that made good punches up the center of the field.

While we certainly were not used to taking such a beating, we didn’t let the score get down our spirits. We came back strong in the second half, and 70 minutes into the game, Julianna Gardner ’13 made a beautiful run from nearly half field to score a try right in the center of the try-zone. It was a great moment for the team, and our spirits were definitely lifted.

However, Bowdoin came back and scored 7 minutes later. We still had our stride, but it was definitely frustrating to have our momentum interrupted. As we walked up to half-field to kick off to Bowdoin with three minutes left, the reff looked at Jess Berry ’13 and Hannah Elkin ’13 and said, “It would be really nice for you guys to have the last try of the game. Just go for it.” And that’s what we did. In the last minute of the game, Melissa Hayes ’12 offloaded the ball off a tackle to Berry, who was then hit by their outside center. She offloaded it to Gardner, who was perfectly positioned on the sideline on the right of the field. A quick pop pass from the offload and Gardner took off down the field. She just managed to scoot past their fullback and score in the corner of the try-zone. The whistle blew, and the game ended on a high note.

 

The B-side game went well. We played two fifteen minute halves. Our rookies were able to get more PT in their positions, and since neither Bowdoin nor Midd had enough players to side full teams, we each played teams of 12 and were able to let some of our injured players rest. We won the B-side game by good amount (no one kept score), though our B-side consisted of about 75% of veterans, so that was to be expected. Regardless, it was good practice for us, and Bowdoin appreciated being able to give their rookies a chance to play.

 

After the games, we were given pizza and goodies by the Bowdoin team. We had the opportunity to take showers in the locker room, and then we were escorted to one of their social houses to hang out with the Bowdoin team. We had a great time and really appreciated the hospitality. It made the long drive much more worthwhile.

 

The Bowdoin team already played Colby, who we will be facing this coming weekend. They said that Colby was very good, so we’re prepared for a tough game on the 8th. We got a lot of great practice in against Bowdoin and this week in practice, and we’re really looking forward to getting back on the pitch.

 

Hope to see you all this weekend for our home game against Colby at 1:00! Bring your friends, posters, and enthusiasm — we promise to bring our A game!