AMHERST, MA (September 26, 2009) -- As the saying goes, when it rains it pours, in which case this was something of a monsoon! UMass., Amherst defeated Vassar 52-0 scoring 5 tries in each half and connecting on just one conversion. Vassar has had the upper hand in this contest for the past 5 years or so but on this beautiful sunny Massachusetts fall day it was all the Minutewomen.
Vassar College Women 0 v UMass., Amherst Women 52
UMass dominated this game winning the majority of the ball and kicking deep forcing Vassar back time and time again. It was a torrid day for freshman fullback
Emma Backe and although she did admirably dealing with the pressure territory was established.
The opening exchanges were even but UMass managed to move the ball wide and get outside the Vassar defense. They scored two tries in this fashion and it provided them with plenty of confidence. The rucks were messy affairs and it favored the team going forward, in this case UMass. The referee needed to be much more strict and penalize players for leaving their feet. UMass players would drive over and then flop down preventing Vassar from counter rucking.
UMass added a further 3 tries with some strong running aided by passive tackling from Vassar. Regularly UMass players punched over the gain line having received the ball deep behind the ruck.
Vassar's
Amanda Waterhouse battled at the front of the lineout and did well.
Shanaye Williams and
Ami Major had some good runs and
Lorraine DeGraffenreidt popped up all over the place in support. The Vassar captain injured her knee late in the second half and will probably need an MRI to determine if there is significant injury.
Another factor in the loss was the fact that Vassar failed to find touch on numerous occasions and it not only cost them territory but also attacking possession. Add in 3 or 4 penalties for offside when Vassar kicked ahead and it seemed that UMass constantly had the ball. Certainly, a case could be made explaining these and other errors based on the fact that the team contains 5 players with less than 3 games experience but that is not meant to diminish the UMass effort. They ran out emphatic winners and must now be regarded as a possible threat to the top 2 teams in the Northeast, Brown and Army.
The measure of this Vassar team will be how they work for the remainder of the season with some tough games still ahead.
Team: 15
Emma Backe 14
Laura Howard 13
Morandi Hurst 12
Willa Conway 11
Kate Hancock 10
Lorraine DeGraffenreidt 9
Keri Peacock 1 Krissa Wiechmann 2 Natalie duRivage 3
Shanaye Williams 4 Amanda Williams 5 Kim Beaudoin 6
Libby Pei 7
Lucy Cantwell 8
Ami Major. Subs:
Nicole Guerrero for Kim Beaudoin,
Julia Rossi for
Lorraine DeGraffenreidt.
Overall record 2009-10: 3-1-0.
Next weekend: Sunday October 3, 2009 at Brown University Women, kickoff 1:00 pm.
Vassar College Women "B" 12 v UMass., Amherst Women "B" 0
Tries: Jansyn Thaw (1), Natalie duRivage (1).
Cons: Julia Rossi (1).
Showing a good deal of character the Vassar "B" team took the field and must have been somewhat concerned given what they had just witnessed. However, they rucked very well and secured possession regularly and deservedly won scoring 2 tries to none. Freshman scrumhalf
Jansyn Thaw dived over for the first in heavy traffic and then
Nathalie duRivage scored in the second half in support of
Krissa Wiechmann.
Julia Rossi, who had filled in very ably at flyhalf, added the conversion and the Brewers ended on a positive note.
