This past weekend, the Dartmouth Women's Rugby Club started out with a 33-5 loss to Vassar but showed tremendous resilience by bouncing back to defeat Amherst 29-0 and earn a berth to the National Tournament in the spring.
The Vassar game started out on a good note for Dartmouth, as second-row Amanda Behm '04 came out firing and nearly ran through the ball carrier on the first tackle of the game.
Energized, the DWRC drove down the field to the Vassar try-line but couldn't capitalize. Penalties on the Big Green allowed the Brewers to drive down the field, and although a valiant effort by flanker Cate Macomber '04 saved a try, Vassar eventually pushed it through near the posts. The conversion was good.
After the kickoff, the Big Green again reached the Vassar try-line, but the Brewers' strong pack helped them drive down the field once again. Dartmouth attempted another goal-line stand, but again, Vassar broke the plane.
The DWRC finally fired up a few minutes later. After a great run by outside center Sonia Tarantolo '04, the Brewers committed a penalty. Scrum-half Catherine Dale '04 passed to eight-man Johanna Willer '04 on the weak side, which led to a score by co-captain and wing Elisse Gaynor '03 in the corner. The kick failed, but the Big Green was on the board. The half ended a bit later with the score 14-5 in favor of Vassar.
Unfortunately for the members of the DWRC, the second half did not go exactly as they had planned. Despite great play on both sides of the ball by Macomber and Dale, Vassar kept finding the holes in the Big Green defense and finished the game with 33 points to Dartmouth's five. Only great tackling by fullback Jackie Johnson '05 and Willer kept the spread from widening.
After a good night's rest the DWRC came back out on Sunday with its players ready to take out their frustrations on Amherst. Because Cornell had beaten Amherst by 20 on Saturday and Dartmouth had lost by 28, the point differential between Dartmouth and Amherst and Vassar and Cornell had to be at least 48 in order for Dartmouth to earn a berth in the national tournament.
Extremely windy conditions at game time made Dartmouth's task that much more of a challenge. Amherst was another good mauling team, but the Big Green forward pack worked hard to give the backs some possession.
Finally, the DWRC marched down into the Amherst end. An Amherst attempt to kick the ball out of trouble was stuffed as prop Kim Siciliano '03 charged in off of the line-out to jump on the Amherst fly-half. After a ruck on the goal line, scrum-half Dale alertly picked up the ball and darted around the side of a ruck to touch it down.
A near Amherst score was averted when Johnson single-handedly forced a breakaway out of bounds. After a penalty stopped the Jeffs, wing Gaynor made a great run up the sideline, then passed to looping inside center Emily Battle '05 for the try. Battle converted her own try and the half ended with a score of 12-0 in favor of the Big Green.
The DWRC members knew they had to score more in the second half, and Willer took matters into her own hands. After flanker Sarajane Carpenter '03 stole a line-out from the Jeffs, Willer took a pass, fought through most of the Amherst defense and dove into the try-zone.
Some great crashing by second-row Lois Schonberger '03 and some skilled rolling maul action led to the next Dartmouth try. Siciliano worked hard to secure the ball in a ruck on the try-line, and Battle finally pushed it through for the score.
After a wheel by the Big Green scrum stopped a Jeffs rally dead in its tracks, Macomber scored the final Dartmouth try. Flyhalf Abby Berniker '03 converted the kick.
Amherst tried valiantly to tack one on the board before time ran out, but Macomber continued her brilliance on defense, stealing a line-out deep in Dartmouth territory to seal the shutout.
Dartmouth had won by 29, which meant that Vassar had to beat Cornell by 19 in order for the Big Green to earn a spot in the National Tournament. The DWRC members waited tensely to learn the result that held the key to their destiny.
Finally, the official word came. Vassar had beaten Cornell by a score of 31-0, giving Dartmouth the berth to nationals by a 12-point margin. The National Tournament is held at the end of April.
Annie Snider is a wing in the Dartmouth Women's Rugby Club.
