Get Herald RSSAfter crushing rival UMass-Amherst, 17-0, in the opening round, the women's rugby team found itself on the opposite end of the same score as they fell to top-seeded Army in the final of the New England Rugby Football Championships here Saturday.
In the opening-round matchup, Brown dominated the larger UMass forwards and ran away from the UMass backline. Virginia Buckles '11 opened the scoring for the Bears with a nice pick near the goal line, diving over for the first score of the match to put Brown up 5-0. Later in the first half Nina Safane '09 found a gap on the weak side and passed to Whitney Brown '08.5, who streaked up the sideline 30 yards for the score, and Blaine Martin '11 converted to put Brown up 12-0. Later in the game, Martin came through for the Bears again when she put a deep kick up midfield then sprinted down the field, stole the ball on the bounce and ran in untouched to add the final score of the game, as Brown came away with the 17-0 victory.
Later in the day, Brown took on Army in the championship match. The Army players were fired up and eager to avenge an early-season loss to the Bears, and overloaded the line to score and go up 7-0 in the opening 10 minutes. Just a few minutes later, Army struck again, scoring between the center to go up 12-0. Brown came back strong, pushing Army back until a few penalties kept Brown off the scoreboard at the end of the half.
In the second half, both teams fought hard for possession, but late in the half the Army fullback found her wing for a score, putting the final score at 17-0 to earn Army the NERFU title.
Brown's B-Side played a round robin with UMass and Dartmouth, with each team playing 20-minute halves. Brown dominated Dartmouth, 22-0, and was led by strong performances from Michelle Vander Ploeg '12, Marisa Rodriguez '10, Lindsay Joseph '09, Emily Hsieh '12, Katie Davis '12 and scrumhalf Blair Station '12.
However, the B-Side was unable to make it a Brown sweep over the Minutewomen, as the Bears fell 7-0 to UMass.
The Bears will get a chance to bounce back next Saturday when they face Cornell at 1 p.m. at Marvel Field for the first round of the Northeast Rugby Union playoffs. Bruno is hoping to get a rematch with Army later in the playoffs.
- Megan McCahill
