This past Saturday in Hanover, the Dartmouth Women's Rugby Club won its first home game of the season in a 22-0 shutout over the ladies from the University of Connecticut.
The game started off with Dartmouth receiving the ball and trying to push forward up the field. Although the Big Green made several attempts at touchdowns, their efforts were futile against the formidable Husky defense.
Flyhalf Abby Berniker '03 gave the Huskies a real scare when she was able to get the ball to their 22-meter line.
The fear soon became a reality after several minutes of back and forth pushing by both teams. Breaking through on the weak side of the Huskies' defense, flanker Rosemary Riley '01, the forwards' captain, was able to get the ball farther up the field and get credit for an assist to eight-man Karin Ljungquist '02.
After catching the ball and showing possession, Ljungquist did the honors of scoring a touchdown in the tryzone, putting Dartmouth up 5-0.
After the Big Green score, play continued as it had prior to the goal. Both teams struggled to make progress at the 50-meter line on the field.
Eventually the Dartmouth offense found a burst of energy. Bridget Waitkus '02 received a pass from second row Alyssa Chandler '01, who first broke through the Connecticut defense.
Waitkus wasted no time at all, dashing in to the tryzone to give Dartmouth a 10-point advantage. Flanker Sarah Foy '01 kicked through the conversion to put the Huskies down by 12.
The lead remained at 12 at the intermission, and the tight style of play resumed afterwards. The Huskies did their best to frighten the Big Green by making some close attempts to goals, but the Dartmouth defense had seen all the plays before and was ready to stop any advances made.
Within 15 minutes, the Big Green offense got back into sync and ran over the Huskies. It was Waitkus who got free again to fly into the tryzone and dig the 17-point hole for the Huskies.
With the game nearing its end, the ladies from Storrs were determined to put up some points on the scoreboard, but the ruggers from Hanover would have none of it.
Dartmouth, not being satisfied with the 17-0 lead, was able to score one more time in the game. This time it was fullback Molly Johnson '02 who got a piece of the Huskies, scoring the final try of the game.
The women hope that this kind of game repeats itself throughout the spring. Dartmouth next hosts the UMass Minutewomen at Sachem Field this weekend.
