Last weekend, the women's rugby team traveled to Bowdoin College to compete in the Northeast Rugby Union Championships. In the opening round, the Bears dominated Dartmouth, 44-15, to advance to the championship game. Captain Nina Safane '09 led the way with three tries; Ploi Flynn '09 scored twice for the Bears; and Blaine Martin '11, Yadi Ibarra '09, Naomi Oberman-Briendel '10 and Captain Whitney Brown '09 each added a score of their own in the rout.
In the championship match, Bruno got an opportunity for revenge as it faced the tough Army squad which it lost to two weeks ago on Brown's home turf at the New England Rugby Union Championships. This time around, the Bears got the better of their rivals by a score of 24-15. Army got off to a quick 10-0 lead, but the Bears battled back behind scores from Michelle Un '11, Alex Hartley '10 and two conversions from Martin to take a 14-10 halftime lead. In the second half, Hartley added her second try of the game, and Martin followed with a score of her own to give the Bears a commanding 24-10 lead. Army managed to cut the score to 24-15 with about five minutes remaining, but Brown refused to give them any comeback opportunity and hung on for the victory.
With the win, the Bears regained their No. 1 national ranking, and earned a No. 4 seed in what will be the team's third trip to the National Championships.
