The rugby team notched its second win of the season this weekend with a commanding 76-10 win over Penn.
The Bears (2-0) completely overwhelmed the Quakers (1-1) in Philadelphia, taking offensive control that resulted in a lopsided win.
“Our ultimate goal is to win Ivy and (American College Rugby Association) championships, … but in order to get there we’re taking it one step at a time,” said Amber Reano ’16, the team’s scrum half.
Bruno’s win over Penn was a convincing step toward that goal.
Co-captain Oksana Goretaya ’17 kicked off Bruno’s scoring spree with a speedy run to score the first try of the game. Sofia Rudin ’17 successfully converted to give Brown an early 7-0 lead. After a Penn possession, a turnover gave Goretaya another chance to score. It was deja vu when Rudin completed the repeat with a conversion to give the Bears a 14-0 lead.
Penn responded with a convincing push to the 20-yard line, but the Bears’ defense recovered in time to force the Quakers back to the 50-yard line. Brown got on the scoreboard once again soon after, as Kebbeh Darpolor ’16 assisted Saskia Morgan ’16 for Bruno’s third try of the game. Rudin extended her perfect conversion streak to give Brown a 21-0 lead.
The Quakers fought back as the Bears racked up a few penalties in dangerous defensive territory. Penn capitalized on the penalties and scored its first try of the game, though it was unable to convert, cutting Brown’s lead to 21-5. But Goretaya refused to let the Quakers catch up, stealing an errant throw and passing to Morgan for a try. Morgan soon scored once more to make it back-to-back tries. Another conversion from Rudin put the Bears up 33-5.
Messy playing from both teams followed Morgan’s try, as the Quakers gave up one turnover and the Bears gave up two and notched penalties. The half ended with the Bears up 33-5.
“For the first half we struggled a little bit with our defense and tackling,” Reano said. “We figured out that their fly half and outside center weren’t playing as well,” which helped Bruno’s offense control the game better in the second half, she added.
Kathryn Graves ’15 opened the second with another try for the Bears, extending Bruno’s lead to 38-5 and setting the tone for the next 40 minutes.
“There was constant communication and a lot of trust from each other” in the second half, Reano said. “We made sure that we knew what each other wanted.” As scrum half, Reano is responsible for communication with the fly half, Rudin, in order to coordinate the front and the back. “We have to see the holes and know when to get (the ball) where.”
Morgan took advantage of the Bears’ coordination and communication by retrieving a kick and utilizing her impressive speed to run the ball down the center and score her third try of the game. The try and the following conversion gave Brown a 45-5 lead. Once again, though, Morgan would not stop with just one try. The Goretaya-Morgan duo came together again to push the Bears to the 50-point mark.
At this point, neither Brown nor Morgan could not be stopped. Morgan teamed up with Jasmine McAdams ’16, feeding her a pass that would become another try. A successful conversion gave the Bears a 57-5 lead. Soon after, the dangerous pair of Goretaya and Morgan matched up again for Morgan’s fifth try of the game, putting the Bears up 62-5.
Each team notched a few more penalties before the Quakers pushed their way toward Brown’s try zone to score their second try of the game and narrow Bruno’s lead to 62-10. But the Bears continued full steam ahead, scoring twice more in the last minutes of play: Goretaya and Morgan teamed up for two more tries, and two successful conversions from Rudin extended the Bears’ lead to a final score of 76-10.
“In the second half, … we passed to the forwards to slow the ball down and make positive yardage at a good pace,” Reano said.
The squad takes on a historically strong Dartmouth team next Saturday in its home opener.
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