Vassar College Women
Poughkeepsie, NY
Saturday September 16th, 2017
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Engineers Fall to Brewers
It is probably just as well that the trip from Albany to Poughkeepsie is a short one given that the Engineers from Rensselaer will have wanted to get home and put this game behind them. On a very warm and humid day the Vassar women turned up the heat and ran in 13 tries to thump the visitors 79-0.
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Saturday September 16, 2017
Vassar College Women 79 v 0 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Women
Tries: Sarah Mawhinney (2), Jennie To (1), Abby Alexander (1), Michelle Urrutia (2), Kayla Lightner (2), Alicia Menard-Livingston (1), Charlotte Benoit (1), Oshana Reich (2) & Andrea Ramsay (1).
Cons: Makena Emery (7).
One has to give credit where credit is due and the Rensselaer players kept tackling and playing hard right through the full 80 minutes. They had little possession and some of that they opted to kick away in an effort to gain territory. But the Brewers were in an uncompromising mood and passes were sticking so both centers, Lightner and Menard-Livingston, went slicing through getting over the gain line. Rensselaer tracked back and tried to build a defense but quick ball allowed Vassar to either punch off the fringes or move it wider.
Jennie To kept the attacking bubbling and Vassar scored the first try when
Sarah Mawhinney darted through and ran in for a deserved score. Further tries from To herself, Abby Alexander and Mawhinney again saw Vassar stretch the lead to 24-0 after 20 minutes. Mawhinney's second try was a wonderful run right up the middle of the field and along the way she bumped off would-be tacklers.
The Vassar forwards were dominant at the breakdown and the close support and rucking was key. At the half it was 38-0 and Rensselaer had not managed to get into the Vassar 22.
The backs had managed to get the ball wide to
Michelle Urrutia and she scored in that first half and she was to see quite a lot of possession in the second half. The difference was that Abby Alexander had been moved to flyhalf and
Makena Emery to scrumhalf. Alexander has good hands, is calm under pressure, a strong ball carrier and plays with confidence. She is the potential back-up for Emery should the latter have to move to 9 or gets injured. Game time is critical and this was as good a time as any to see if the senior could handle the pressure. Alexander did a fine job and although she needs to polish up her distribution it was very encouraging.
The second half also saw
Oshana Reich move to Number 8 as
Amanda Saich took a break. Either are good enough for the role and both have great attitudes.
It was good to see freshman
Kaira Smith slot seemlessly into hooker and promptly steal the RPI put-in at will!
There were plenty of good runs with players getting over the gain line and continuity was possible particularly as the Rensselaer players tired with all their defensive work a burden. A lovely and much deserved try was scored by Andrea Ramsay and
Oshana Reich collected a brace.
The challenge for the Brewers is to work hard to improve so that when it is they that are facing limited possession and having to defend for long periods of time they do so and succeed.
This year there is plenty of competition as the squad size is 51. Yes, 51 women playing rugby representing the college! In the game that followed there are players quite capable of challenging for a starting spot.
