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Written by Jackie Finlan
Monday, 10 October 2011 10:12 |
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Double DC Wins for Keystone |
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Clubs -
Women's Clubs
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It’s been a busy week for Keystone and DC Furies. The teams played their make-up game on Saturday, and then faced off the very next day for their regularly scheduled Women’s Premier League match.
The quick turnaround was punishing on the body, but it did yield two wins for Keystone. The team won 55-8 in DC on Saturday, then followed with a 22-19 victory yesterday.
The latter match was a truly thrilling game. With their full squads now available, the teams duked it out in Philadelphia. The first 10 minutes of the game evolved without a score, until Keystone’s Michelle Kirk broke the silence with a try, 5-0. The teams traded tries throughout the first half, as DC’s Sara Shanley and Leanna Berger, and Keystone’s Rachel Hammond all scored tries. Only one of the five-pointers was converted, thanks to DC’s Kristin Guiliano, and gave the visitors a 12-10 lead into the half.
DC established the widest lead of the day when Julie Lau-Hogan scored in the 52nd minute, and Guiliano notched another conversion, 19-10.
“Keystone was plagued by penalties, especially between minutes 20 - 60, making it very difficult to maintain good possession and giving the Furies much of their go-forward,” Keystone backs captain Devin Keller said. “Playing two matches against the same team on back to back days, and with the same referee, proved difficult, but Keystone pulled it together in the last 20 minutes, reducing penalties significantly and making sound decisions in attack - controlled, safe, slow ball.”
As Keystone entered the final quarter, the hosts needed two scores to overtake DC. And that’s what they go. At the 60th minute mark, Alison Worman’s try pulled Keystone to within striking distance, 19-15, and then forwards captain Rashida Stamps’ try 12 minutes later gave the Pennsylvania team a one-point lead. Stacy Baker’s conversion was icing on the cake, 21-19.
The Furies threw everything they had at Keystone and threatened late into the game, but Keystone’s solid defensive scrums kept DC off the scoreboard. "Obviously, we were all very disappointed that we didn’t win," DC coach Nancy Fitz said. "However, there were a lot of positives that we can take away. First, that was the best game by far that we played all season. We have had some good 40-minute halves but that’s the best 80 minutes of rugby that we’ve played. "Second, the players were really hungry for the ball and for a win, which led to a great intensity the whole game," Fitz added. "That’s the most points we’ve scored in a match all season. And all of this was in a game played less than 24 hours after a very mediocre performance in our “make up” match on Saturday. And we know that we can clean up some mistakes and make better decisions consistently, so we can play even better."
| Women's Premier League - Blue Conference |
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W |
L |
T |
Pf |
Pa |
Pd |
BT |
BL |
Pts |
| Berkeley |
4 |
0 |
0 |
210 |
39 |
171 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
| Keystone |
3 |
1 |
0 |
106 |
104 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
14 |
| Beantown |
1 |
3 |
0 |
72 |
113 |
-41 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
| DC Furies |
0 |
4 |
0 |
39 |
179 |
-93 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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Written by Jackie Finlan
Monday, 10 October 2011 09:37 |
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NOVA One Step Closer to Nationals |
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Clubs -
Women's Clubs
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With one more week to go, all NOVA has to do is beat Albany this Saturday, and they're into the Women’s DI Club Elite 8. NOVA defeated Providence 48-12 on Saturday, while Atlanta downed Albany 54-0.
Three of the four aforementioned teams are vying for the last available seed to nationals (Atlanta already clinched a seed), and NOVA has established itself as the forerunner.
“It was an exciting game,” NOVA coach Brian Walker said. “Providence came out hard and applied a lot of pressure. They were tough, fit and physical. With a playoff spot on the line, we knew they were going to hit us with everything they had.”
NOVA felt well prepared heading into the match, due in much part to assistant coach Dana Creager’s guidance this past week. She focused on integrating the backrow into the backline defense, and also tightened up the backline attack.
“I’d be lying if I said I thought we were going to score eight tries,” Walker said. “We had some early handling errors, but after we settled down, our backs and forwards worked well to support each other and produced some really beautiful rugby.”
The first two tries came out of the forwards, with No. 8 Rosie Daley accounting for the first, and flanker Megan Hanson scoring the first of her two tries. Outside center Mo McQueen dotted down just before the break for the 19-0 lead at half.
“We knew Providence still had the firepower to come back so we made a real effort to ratchet up the pressure,” Walker said. “Luckily we got two tries in the first five minutes after the half to give us a little more cushion.”
Lauren Hoeck made a nice solo run up the middle for the first try, and Hanson picked up her second try after that. Erica Cavanaugh picked up the next two tries with hard runs down the right wing, which put NOVA up 41-0 with about 20 minutes remaining.
Providence never backed down, and in the course of about 10 minutes, fullback Dana Ayoub ran in two long-range tries and added a conversion.
NOVA had the final word of the day, as center Emily Blease scored the final try at the whistle. Walker acknowledged center Amber Benlian and prop Kaitlin Joerger as the game’s MVPs.
“We took a big step forward with the win, but we aren't in the playoffs yet,” Walker said. “We still have to beat Albany next week in order to clinch, which means we have to go back to work on Tuesday and prepare for yet another tough match. Albany have done extremely well in their first year in D1, and have shown they are a quality side. We need to be as focused and prepared for them as we were for Providence.”
| Women DI CR3 Standings |
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W |
L |
T |
Pf |
Pa |
Pd |
BT |
BL |
Pts |
| Atlanta |
5 |
0 |
0 |
228 |
32 |
196 |
5 |
0 |
25 |
| NOVA |
4 |
1 |
0 |
176 |
55 |
121 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
| Providence |
4 |
1 |
0 |
136 |
148 |
-12 |
3 |
0 |
19 |
| Albany |
3 |
2 |
0 |
89 |
85 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
15 |
| Philadelphia |
1 |
4 |
0 |
55 |
128 |
-73 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
| Village Lions |
1 |
4 |
0 |
75 |
202 |
-127 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
| Boston |
0 |
5 |
0 |
72 |
181 |
-109 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Written by Pat Clifton
Monday, 10 October 2011 09:29 |
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College 7s Scuttlebutt: Venue, Teams Abstain |
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RUGBYmag Premier -
Exclusive News
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News about the USA Rugby’s inaugural college 7s national championship continues to unfold, as details about the tournament are unveiling themselves either as rumors or concrete fact. (This article originally incorrectly stated Cal would not compete in USA Rugby's national 7s championship.)
One thing we know for sure is there are now 14 qualifiers – the 13 already announced and the Empire Conference tournament slated for Nov. 19 at Stony Brook in Long Island, NY. That leaves 10 spots open for at-large bids. How will the at-large bids be divvied up? That matter appears to have been worked out.
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Written by RUGBYMag Staff
Monday, 10 October 2011 09:32 |
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Possible Schedule Changes for RWC? |
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International -
Rugby World Cup
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The IRB announced today informal agreements on the format of the 2015 Rugby World Cup following a meeting of the IRB Tier 1 Chairmen and Chief Executives meeting in Auckland on October 10.
With Rugby World Cup 2011 on track to be successful, the meeting was a key step in the Rugby World Cup review process as recommended at the IRB Economics of Rugby Conference in May 2011.
Agenda topics for consideration included the tournament format, the number of participating teams, the match schedule and rest periods and the ongoing review of the RWC commercial model and distribution of revenues. What that means is, the IRB will be sitting down with major Southern Hemisphere unions to discuss their complaints that the World Cup eats into the revenue they get from summer tours in non-RWC years. New Zealand, and to a lesser extent Australia and South Africa, have in some ways forced the IRB's hand to examine that issue and work on a compensation model for those unions.
During a constructive forum, the delegates unanimously recommended retaining the current Rugby World Cup format of 20 teams spilt across four pools. Delegates also reaffirmed their support of the IRB’s planned review of the Rugby World Cup match schedule to deliver the best possible balance of rest days for all teams. No specific commitment from the Tier 1 unions on dates for the 2015 World Cup has been seen as a way by these unions to get the IRB to address their revenue concerns quickly.
The Tier 1 Union delegates at the meeting committed to playing mid-week matches during RWC 2015 in order to help achieve a better balance for Tier 2 and Tier 3 Unions.
The meeting also endorsed the commitment to review the Rugby World Cup commercial model, revenue distribution and RWC 2015 start date as planned following the completion of the 2011 event in New Zealand.
While the meeting was not a decision-making forum, key recommendations will be put forward to the IRB Executive Committee and/or IRB Council for consideration.
IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “The success of Rugby World Cup has been essential to the global prosperity and growth of our sport over the last decade. It has delivered the financial platform to enable more men, women and children to participate across all continents over the next decade.
“A review of the format and match schedule is undertaken after every tournament. This scheduled meeting, its recommendations, coupled with the ongoing commercial model review, will ensure that Rugby World Cup continues to serve the needs of the global Game at every level while reinforcing its place as one of the world’s premier sports events.”
“I would like to thank the Tier 1 Chairmen and Chief Executives for their full and open contribution to the meeting and their commitment to the review process.”
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Written by Pat Clifton
Monday, 10 October 2011 08:54 |
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Yellow Cards Undo Yale Against Harvard |
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Colleges -
Men's DI College
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Harvard downed Yale 53-14 Saturday in one of the oldest rivalries in the country.
The Bulldogs opened with a score, taking the game’s first lead, but a flurry of yellow cards (three) and a composed Crimson backline took away all momentum or threat of an upset.
“We kind of started to pull together and they got a couple of yellow cards. Our backline was attacking with a little more dynamism, and our forwards were winning the ruck in a much better way,” said Harvard flyhalf Gabe Cunningham.
“I think those things combined, especially with the yellow card count as well, helped us pull away…Regardless of the cards I think the biggest thing was our backline found its groove again, and our pack set the platform so we’d receive the kickoff, kick for space and force them into a kick for touch and we were able to play more in their end as the game progressed.”
Every week is a rivalry week in the Ivy League, but whenever the Bulldogs and Crimson meet, it’s just a bit more special.
“We have a lot of traditional rivals in the Ivy League,” said Cunningham, “but Harvard-Yale is one kind of everyone can get exciting about. We’re excited with the win, and it’s always an exciting thing being able to tell our alums.”
The win keeps Harvard in the upper half of the Ivy League in third place, but the Crimson still trail leading Dartmouth and Princeton by what seems like an insurmountable margin. The loss sinks Yale to 0-4 in league play, further anchoring the Bulldogs to the Ivy cellar.
(The original run of this article included an incorrect final score)
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Page 1066 of 1441 |
