Collegiate Rugby - Women
 
Poughkeepsie, NY
Sunday April 8^th, 2018


Cold and Windy, Improving Later

 
There was a bitter cold wind that swirled around the Farm on this April day and at one point snow was falling! Perhaps it should have been no surprise that it took the Brewers awhile to warm-up and find their stride. As is so often the case against division rival U. at Albany the first forty minutes was a real tussle and any loose ball was pounced on by the Danes. The snow stopped but the temperature did not rise, however, the Brewers did up the tempo in the second half to secure this win.



Sunday April 8^th, 2018
Vassar College Women 38 v 17 University at Albany Women
Tries: Abby Alexander (1), Molly Lynch (2), Oshana Reich (1), Jennie To (1) & Michelle Urrutia (1).
Cons: Makena Emery (4).


Although Vassar got an early score that was well converted by Makena Emery and thus led 7-0, the first half was to bear witness to some poor components of play from the Vassar fifteen. The first lineout of the match was caught by Vassar and driven, unfortunately backwards, as the U. Albany pack piled in knowing what was coming. Such is the case when you know your opponent so well. But Vassar kept possession, went through the phases and right wing Abby Alexander scored.

Albany's response was swift and immediate. Vassar fumbled the re-start and the ball went forward and was picked up by a Vassar player who had been standing in front of the receiver - penalty. A few phases later and a simple 10-12 loop saw the score at 7-5.
 

Albany was having some success with their forwards running off the fringes and they got over the gain line. With front foot ball they looked dangerous. Vassar was guilty of some matador tackling as they stepped out of the way and arm tackles were completely ineffective! 
 

But Albany did not capitalize on their forays and after about 20 minutes a well timed pass from Emery to Molly Lynch saw the freshman slice through and score under the posts. At 14-5 Vassar needed to keep the foot on the accelerator and try to put some distance between the teams.
 

From a scrum in the Vassar half just outside the 22 the Albany number 9 threw a deep pass that was dropped and Vassar's Jennie To chased to make a tackle just past the Albany 10 meter line. U. Albany had lost 25 meters but the loose ball was grabbed by their flyhalf who proceeded to evade 4 Vassar tacklers and then managed to outdistance Vassar's Molly Lynch chasing from behind! All of a sudden it was 14-12 with 10 minutes left in the half.
 

Vassar had looked sharp in attack but it was poor defense that had let Albany back into the contest. This was compounded by losing lineouts with the ball sailing over the middle jumper and the opposition was not really contesting, other than a token jump that barely got off the ground. Add in three turnovers from Vassar ball carriers and it was frustrating to see Albany getting quite a bit of ball.

The team addressed the tackling around the fringes in the second half and it prevented Albany from getting go forward ball. Double tackles driving the ball carrier back were more frequent. The scrum also tightened up and gave Number 8 Amanda Saich a better platform.

In the second half Vassar did what they had done in the first, scored within minutes as Oshana Reich made it 19-12.  Albany had a good spell with the ball but hurt their chances of gaining control when they gave away penalties at the ruck. Vassar was able to clear their lines and a good score from Jennie To put Vassar further ahead. Makena Emery had made another lengthy break just getting pulled down short of the posts but it put Jennie To in easy reach of the line. 26-12 saw Albany battle back but again dropped passes and penalties turned the ball back to Vassar.
 

Michelle Urrutia scored after some good forward play had taken the ball into the Albany 22 and at 31-12 Vassar was in command. Credit Albany for they kept running hard and they scored to make it 31-17 before Molly Lynch collected her brace and a 38-17 win for the team.
 

There is plenty to work on this coming week - receiving kick-offs, fringe defense, lineouts and most important of all, tackling!

Team: 15 Michelle Urrutia 14 Abby Alexander 13 Alicia Menard-Livingston 12 Molly Lynch 11 Andrea Ramsay 10 makena Emery 9 Jennie To 1 Sabrina Perry 2 Charlotte Benoit 3 Megan Martin 4 Megan de Koning 5 Claire Fondrie-Teitler 6 Sarah Mawhinney 7 Oshana Reich 8 Amanda Saich.
Subs: Miranda Scarlata for Megan Martin.




Record: 17-1-0
 
Next:  Saturday & Sunday April 14^th & 15^th, 2018 at the Beast of the East Tournament in Portsmouth, RI



Sunday April 8^th, 2018

Vassar College Women "B" 20 v 19 University at Albany Women "B"

Tries: Emma Manzella (1), Yume Murphy (1), Yuming Ren (1) & Catherine Gladstone (1).

This was a gutsy and good performance from the Vassar B-side as they took on the U. Albany Women's B-side with a smattering of A-side players. It was so encouraging to see the shape of the team as they ran their one-out ball carriers wide and got over the gain line. It was no surprise that 3 of the 4 try scorers were forwards but kudos to the whole pack for producing good quick ball.


At scrumhalf Kira Nolan had a day to remember for she ran well, tackled well and but for a few errant passes she orchestrated the attack well.


There are a good many small triumphs to celebrate when it comes to the first year players: Claudia Lausch was dynamic and decisive on the wing making a couple solid tackles and joining the forwards in the picking game; Yuming Ren continues to impress with her commitment both tackling and running hard and straight; Kaira Smith is a busy player who did well in the scrums and is also all over the field; Emma Manzella cut through the defense and presented the ball well; Of course there are others as everybody had moments but the net result was a real team performance.


Vassar went up 5-0 as Manzella slipped through to get over the whitewash. Albany struck back and scored  good try and Vassar was behind 7-5. Yume Murphy had a very productive day and was rewarded for her efforts with a try as was Yuming Ren and at the half it was 15-7.


Vassar went further ahead 20-7 through Catherine Gladstone before Albany came roaring back and scored 2 tries and the final of 20-19 was a well deserved win.



Much like their A-side counter-parts the team needs to work on fringe defense and not turning the ball over but it was a good win for the brewers.



Team: 15 Halle Hutchinson 14 Ilona Neale 13 Emma Manzella 12 Meredith Leder 11 Claudia Lasch 10 Aislinn Vences-Dimas 9 Kira Nolan 1 Yume Murphy 2 Kaira Smith 3 Catherine Gladstone 4 Aisha Malik 5 Maddie Crump 6 Yuming Ren 7 Miranda Scarlata  8 Danielle Kaminski. 



Subs: Victoria Wilk for Claudia Lasch, Tanyx Madrigal for Ilona Neale & Megan de Koning for Danielle Kaminski.