FINAL SCORE: 22 – 21, win
It was the perfect fall weather, “a beautiful day for rugby”. We got onto the field ready for a comeback from last week’s loss, and our excitement and eagerness to win showed throughout the game.
We came out tough and had possession of the ball in their half at the beginning of the first half. The ref called a scrum to Colby right in front of their try zone. They won the scrum and got the ball back to their fly half, who tried to kick the ball out of their zone. Jessica Berry ’13 blocked the kicked and it went back to their inside center (who was still standing in their try zone). The inside center tried to kick the ball out, but Logan Gallogly ’12 blocked the second attempt as well. The ball bounced in front of Sarah Pfander ’13, who fell on it and touched it down in their try zone for the first try of the game, right in the center of the try zone. This made it easy for Berry to make the conversion kick.
The score was 7 – 0.
However, Colby came back with a vengeance. Their quick inside center broke through the back line and made a long run down the field to score, despite the valiant efforts of Sarah Minahan ’14 and Kayla Bien ’13, who both chased her all the way down the field and into our zone. Colby also made their conversion kick.
The score was 7 – 7.
But instead of being discouraged, we got fired up and ready to get our game back. Shortly after Colby scored, we got the ball back down into their half of the field. The ref then called a penalty on Colby right in the middle of the field, less then 22 yards out from their uprights. We decided to try to kick for extra points. Berry successfully made the kick, putting an extra 3 points on the board for Midd.
The score was 10 – 7.
Colby, however, wasn’t going down without a fight. They came back strong in the second half and scored two tries in a row. The first was another long run by their inside center. The second was off a play right in front of our try zone, where a quick ball out let them find a hole in our defensive line. They made both of their conversion kicks.
The score was now 10 – 21.
Knowing that time was running short, we kicked up the intensity of our game. A few plays off the scrum between our fly half and eight-man got the ball down near their try zone. After a few punches up the center off the ruck, the Colby defensive line got messy. Berry, the scrumhalf, took the ball off the back of a ruck and pushed through a hole in their line to score right near the uprights. She then made the conversion kick.
The score was 17 – 21.
The clock was running thin, and we knew we needed another try to win the game. Julianna Gardner ’13, our top scorer who was sitting out for the first 3/4 of the game due to a leg injury, came in at wing. And she pulled through, as we all hoped she would. Receiving a quick ball out through the back line from a ruck, Gardner received her pass and bolted straight for the corner of the try zone. She rushed past their wing and fullback and just made it into their try zone to touch down the ball before getting tackled. Berry missed the kick, but it didn’t matter.
The score was 22 – 21.
Soon after, the final whistle blew and MCWRC blew a sigh of relief after a long, exciting game. Captain Melissa Hayes ’12 was in tears, which pretty much sums up how everyone on the team felt after the hard-earned win. It was a great feeling, a well-played game, and a BEAUTIFUL day for rugby.
We now head into our last regular-season game against Williams College. It’s an 11:00 home game for Fall Family Weekend, and we couldn’t be more excited to have all of our friends and families there to support us and cheer us on for such an important game!
As always, bring your excitement and we’ll bring our A-game!
CONGRATS ON THE WIN!!! Gosh I miss you guys! Thanks for the update Berry. It was like I was there! 加油！
－Your #1 Fan in 北京，China
Because Jess writes the blog and can’t talk about herself, I just wanted to make it clear how important Jess’ kicking was in this game. She stepped in for Hannah, who normally kicks and was out for the game, and made her kicking prowess known. Her 7 points (2 conversions, 1 penalty) really made the difference that allowed us to come out on top!