POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 13, 2014) – Ten tries, nine of which were scored in the first half, reflected a dominant 40 minutes for the Brewers. At the heart of it all was the partnership of
Dallas Robinson at Number 8 and
Margaret Kwateng at scrumhalf. The former did not get on the score sheet but she had a huge hand in the result while the latter scooped up 4 tries before both took a rest at halftime.
Vassar College Women 58 v 5 Fairfield University Women
Tries: Margaret Kwateng (4), Nathalie Freeman (2), Laila Blumenthal-Rothchild (1), Mary-Margaret McElduff (1), Elizabeth Bennett (1), Anna Carias (1).Cons: Mary Margaret McElduff (4). The visitors were making a step up in competition and knew they would be facing a Vassar team intent on improving from the previous week's loss to Princeton. Fairfield has some strong runners but they probably were a tad apprehensive especially after
Margaret Kwateng had sprinted 60 yards for the opening score after just 1 minute of play! It was just the tonic Vassar needed and the forwards knew that if they could produce clean quick ball then the day would be a lot easier for them.
So Vassar dominated the loose play and despite some terrible lineout woes and an all freshmen front row they were never seriously threatened in the first 40 minutes.
The ball was recycled more frequently than if there was a dollar back on a coke bottle and Kwateng fed forwards and backs alike with good passes. Vassar flyhalf, Shira Idris, an enigma for she can be such a potent attacker and frail defender, had a day to remember, making her tackles and distributing well.
It was Idris who put fullback
Laila Blumenthal-Rothchild away, although the fullback had plenty of running to do, for her try. Freshman
Nathalie Freeman was exemplary making the hard yards running off the fringes of the rucks. She is truly a forwards forward.
Another freshman, Mary Margaret McElduff slotted 4 conversions and went over for a nice try and a total of 13 points but she was most pleased with her tackling as she took down a couple of forwards on the charge.
The biggest cheer of the day went up for the try scored by Lizzie Bennett. The freshman loosehead had run strongly in open play and deserved her moment in the sun.
The second half was a brief glimpse of life after Margaret and Dallas as the teams played to a 5-5 tie. Mystika Strawder tackled with great consistency. Liz Berridge is another who is fearless and knocks ball carriers backwards.
Ellen Quist always remains calm and distributed well.
Taylor Nunley looked comfortable at Number 8 and all in all it was a very satisfying day as so many rookies contributed to the win.
Team: 15
Laila Blumenthal-Rothchild 14
Molly Osborn 13
Emma Kading 12
Rachel Thompson 11 Mary Margaret McElduff 10 Shira idris 9
Margaret Kwateng 1 Lizzie Bennett 2
Nathalie Freeman 3
Yasani Spencer 4
Sophia Rutkin 5
Taylor Nunley 6
Emma Elbaum 7
Hannah Fink 8
Dallas Robinson. Subs: Mystika Strawder for
Sophia Rutkin,
Anna Carias for
Dallas Robinson,
Zoe Kurtz for
Margaret Kwateng,
Ellen Quist for
Rachel Thompson,
Leigh Yakubowski for
Emma Kading,
Lauren Workman for
Emma Elbaum, Elizabeth Berridge for
Hannah Fink.
Overall record: 12-4-0.
Next: Saturday April 19th, 2014 at the Tri-State Conference 7s Championship hosted by Stony Brook University - start 12:00 noon
