This past weekend, the Dartmouth women's rugby club traveled to San Diego for the first round of the Sweet Sixteen.
Saturday saw the 15th-seeded DWRC pull off an emphatic 27-12 upset of No. 2 Navy behind terrific performances from hooker Jen Obiapi '04 and flanker Amanda Behm '04, as well as fullback Jackie Johnson '05.
The Big Green came out fighting hard and really set the tone in the first five minutes. After about 20 minutes of play mostly in the Navy half, a great surge by the DWRC pack allowed Obiapi to touch down the first try of the game. A kick from the corner missed its mark, but Dartmouth held a five-point lead heading into halftime.
Having learned from prior years, the DWRC allowed no letdown in the second half. After a few minutes of play in between the 30s, scrumhalf Catherine Dale '04 took one of many quick taps on the day and dished to flyhalf Abby Berniker '03. Berniker delivered the ball to Behm, who fought her way over the try line to increase the Dartmouth lead to 10.
After a string of DWRC penalties allowed Navy to get back within 5 points, the DWRC stayed tough, and a break by Behm on the weak side of a ruck led to a diving try on the outside by wing Freddi Ghesquiere '04.
Down 15-5, Navy showed some toughness by coming back with another try, this one off of a quick penalty tap by the scrumhalf. A kick from the center made it through, and the Dartmouth lead was cut to three points with about eight minutes remaining.
Off of a set scrum soon after the kickoff, a kick from wing Annie Snider '04 caught the opposing back three off guard, and the ball bounced down to the five-meter line. After a Navy penalty, flanker Sarajane Carpenter '03 grabbed the ball out of the back of a ruck and dove over the try line to bring the Dartmouth lead back to eight with only a couple of minutes remaining.
After Navy committed another penalty in its hurry to score, Dartmouth set a ruck and got the ball out wide to fullback Johnson, who ran down to the Navy 22, dished to Snider, looped, got the ball back and dove over the try line.
Inside center Emily Battle '05 converted the kick. The game ended just a few seconds later, and the Dartmouth celebration began.
The next day, the Big Green took the field against UCSD as a member of the Elite Eight. Despite injuries and fatigue, Dartmouth managed to hold a bigger UCSD team to 10 points in the first half, and just missed scoring a try of its own when the ball was knocked on in goal.
Unfortunately, the Tritons ran away with the game in the second half, posting a 38-0 victory on their way to the Final Four.
