FINAL SCORE: 18 – 7, win
It ended up being a fairly nice day, in that it didn’t start drizzling until AFTER our game was finished. We were all excited to have our friends, relatives, and parents cheering us on from the sideline – and it showed from the first minute of play. In arguably our best game of the season, we pulled out a win for all of our adoring fans.
2 minutes into the first half, Evan Pagano ’12 (flyhalf), in her second game of the season due to injuries, reminded all of us why we missed her out on the field and made a beautiful run to score our first try. Jess Berry ’13 (scrumhalf) missed the conversion kick.
Not long after, the forwards had an amazing series of punches up the field after a run from the back line. The Williams defense was caught off guard, and Berry took the ball from the back of a ruck to make a final punch into the try zone, 11 minutes into the first half. Hannah Elkin ’13 (lock) missed the conversion kick.
20 minutes in, a penalty right in front of the uprights gave Berry an easy opportunity for a 3 point kick-for-points.
5 minutes before the first half ended, Marissa Shaw ’14 pushed through multiple Williams players down the left side of the field to score her FIRST TRY EVER. With her parents and family friends on the sidelines, it was an amazing first try for the versatile sophomore, who plays flanker and inside center.
The first half ended with a score of 18 – 0.
Williams came out harder the second half, and no points were scored until the 77th minute, when Williams scored a try and made their kick, making the final score of the game 18 – 7.
It was a great game, and even better was the time we spent afterwards with our parents, family, and friends. We had many generous parents bring food, drinks, tables, cups, plates, etc. and we were able to have a buffet of food after the game for all of our hungry players and fans. It was a beautiful day for rugby, filled with beautiful people.
Thank you again to everyone who came out to see us, and particular thanks to those of you who contributed to our post-game meal (whether that was through donating food, donating money, or helping set-up or clean-up). It was a perfect day, and we were all so glad we got to share it with all of you.
On Saturday the 22nd we play URI in Kingstown, RI for our quarter-final game! Bring it on!