Author: Brita Fisher

Final Score, 50-20, loss

This past weekend MCWRC headed up to Burlington to play UVM. Since they couldn’t get access to any outside field space, we were slated to play on turf inside at the Edge sporting facility in Williston, VT. This ended up being a fortunate turn of events since it snowed that Saturday. We knew going in that the game against D-1 UVM would be tough, but everyone donned their outrageous prom dresses and geared up for the challenge. Since the field was quite small, we decided that there would be no kicking except to kick-off, there would be 3 20-minute periods, and that we’d play 14s (no fullbacks). After some laughter and a quick warm up the teams set up with Middlebury kicking off to UVM. The game began fast-paced and tough as UVM quickly broke through our defenses and scored a try. The first minutes of play were exhausting and UVM’s forwards lived up to their reputation as they ran “power” after power off of the rucks.

The first period was challenging, and we struggled to maintain possession and keep control on such a small field, but captain Katie Linder ’15 scored Middlebury’s first try of the game. Play calmed down slightly in the second period as Middlebury began to hit its stride. After a few line-up adjustments and some water we hit the field again with an eye on rucking and setting pillars/posts. This time both Linder and Sylvia Lynch ’18 scored tries. As we started to figure out their forwards’ strategy, our backs gained more space for longer runs and deeper passes (despite the small field). The third period felt more settled, and we changed around positions again. At this point in the game, many players were in positions they’d rarely, if ever, practiced. Everyone met the challenge with a spirit of flexibility, determination, and fun. In the final period Kristin Richards ’17 scored her first ever try. Shout-out to Hannah Phelps ’18 and Kate Monroe ‘18.5 on their first game with MCWRC! Even though we lost it was a tough but great game to open our season, and I’m looking forward to our next games and tournaments.

 

Final Score (Loss): UVM 50-Middlebury 20

First Period
Katie Linder-5

Second Period
Katie Linder-5
Sylvia Lynch-5

Third Period
Kristin Richards-5

Next week we’ll start enjoying a new witty blog-post pair, but for now I want to give a quick recap of our last two games.

Last weekend we went down to Tufts after only a few practices and were unsure of what to expect.  The game ended up being a good one, and despite a little bit of frantic play, we held them off to a score of 5-14, with Sarah Kravitz (’16) at flyhalf scoring our try.  Everyone agreed that even though we lost, it felt like a victory after last year’s emotional and rough-and-tumble match.

This weekend we faced off against Colby, and our defenses were not quite up to their All-American outside center’s break-aways, and she scored all 4 of their tries.  We lost, but it was a beautiful day for rugby, and we even put some brand new rookies out on the field.  Our own Stevie Durocher (‘15.5) scored two tries for a final score of 10-31.

Next week we head up to Maine to play at Bates!