Middlebury @ Williams: 96-5, W

 

It was a beautiful day for rugby this Saturday as we headed south down route 7 for our season opener. The panthers were eager to get playing, especially those seniors returning from abroad. Because of numbers, both teams agreed to play 10’s instead of the usual 15’s, with four 15-minute quarters. This gave both teams some much needed respite throughout the game.

 

The panthers came out strong, with scrum half Ellen “MY COW” Colton ’19 scoring within the first few minutes. The panthers would go on to score four more times in the first quarter, with a spectacular first try ever for Jess “Showtunes” Garner ’19.5. Special shoutout to Brenda “Bridget” Li ’17, who held the backs down at fullback/wing, and also scored during the first quarter.

 

Under the fearless leadership of coach KO Onufry, the panthers shook it up for the second quarter and tried some new positions. This allowed us to get more creative with our plays, most notably a switch between Melanie “Jane” Pascual ’19 and Hannah “It’s Just Blood” Phelps ’18 that resulted in a beautiful try from Phelps. A try from Williams during the second quarter left the score 41-5 at halftime.

 

For the second half of the game, the panthers focused on working cohesively, with members of the forwards and backs moving together. Tries were scored, blood was shed. The panthers moved well as a unit and were very successful in their lineouts.

 

Huge shout out to Calla “But I’m a Flanker?” Rosenfeld ’19 who played her first game for Middlebury in the back line and to all the players who tried new positions! High scorers were Ellen Colton ’19 (29 pts) and Heather Tourgee ‘17 (20pts). We hope to see all of our amazing fans next weekend (October 1) at home against Colby at 11am.

 

First Quarter:

Ellen Colton ‘19 (5)

Jessica Garner ’19.5 (5) (Colton-2)

Heather Tourgee ’17 (5)

Brenda Li ’17 (5) (Colton-2)

Melanie Jane Pascual ’19 (5)

 

Second Quarter:

Jess Masinter ’19 (5) (Phelps-2)

Williams (5)

Heather Tourgee (5)

 

 

Third Quarter:

Heather Tourgee (5)

Ellen Colton (5)

Brenda Li (5) (Colton-2)

Jess Masinter (5) (Colton-2)

Hannah Phelps (5) (Colton-2)

 

Fourth Quarter:

Heather Tourgee (5)

Audrey Pan ’19 (5) (Colton-2)

Ellen Colton (5)

Julia Struzyna ‘19.5 (5) (Colton -2)