The Dartmouth Women's Rugby Club, fresh off their Ivy Championship last weekend in Rhode Island, followed up with an equally impressive showing at the Spring Ruggers' Classic tournament on Long Island this past weekend.
Dartmouth's A-side women went undefeated, bringing home first place in the premier division, while the B-side captured second in the open division.
Led by eventual Tournament MVP Kathy Grayson '02, the A-side trampled Drew (36-0), Temple (41-0), and Southern Connecticut (15-0) en route to an exciting championship bout with Radcliffe on Sunday afternoon.
Against a backdrop of mud and heat, the Big Green battled it out against a tough Radcliffe squad, gaining momentum early in the game off a kick by Grayson that landed the ball out of bounds and put Dartmouth five meters from the try zone.
Outstanding play by the Big Green forwards facilitated the first try of the game, touched down by Monique Roy '00. Roy followed up with a pass to Rosemary Riley '01which resulted in a second try for Dartmouth and a 10-0 halftime lead.
Radcliffe turned it up early in the second, scoring on a breakaway. Dartmouth answered quickly with a combined effort by Roy, Grayson, and Bridget Waitkus '02 to move the ball up the field.
An eventual score by Sarah Burgamy '00 and a successful conversion kick by Grayson put Dartmouth up 17-5. The Big Green finished with a bang, rounding out the scoring at 24-5 on a final try by Roy and yet another conversion kick by Grayson.
"In most cases, where you find wins, you usually find teams with standouts and superstars," said Burgamy. "Yes, we have some talented individuals on our team, but that isn't why we win. We are a team in the greatest sense of the word when we hit the field."
The B-side women also played for the championship in their division Sunday afternoon, falling to Ithaca 0-10 to secure second place honors.
"Overall, it was an incredible weekend for us, filled with tons of rugby and lots of mud," said Susan Crangle '01.
The women ruggers will look to continue their success at home this Saturday against UVM.
