On Saturday, the Dartmouth women's rugby team defeated Cornell by a score of 27-17. The win earns the ruggers a place in the Northeast final four tournament next weekend.
The Big Red came out hard and scored the first points of the day off a set scrum. The conversion kick put them ahead by 7. But the Big Green countered several minutes later, when wing Annie Snider '04 broke through the defense and ran 10 meters for a try. Emily Battle '05 made the conversion kick, tying the score at 7.
The forwards, asserting their domination over the Cornell pack, drove the ball up the field. The backs passed it out to Snider, who scored again. Soon after, Cornell threatened the Dartmouth tryline, but the Big Green defense stood in their way. A kick from Battle sent the ball all the way down the field, where Meg Rast '06 picked it up, maintaining possession for Dartmouth. Meg Verdeyen '03 ran for several meters and then passed the ball out to Ashley Massey '04, who scored. Cornell added 3 points on a penalty kick and at the half the score was 17-10 in favor of Dartmouth.
In the second half, Snider and Jackie Johnson '05 ran the ball all the way up the field, setting up a try by Verdeyen. Minutes later, Johnson picked up a bouncing ball and raced through most of the Cornell defense and into the tryzone. "I looked at the defense, and none of them looked like they wanted to catch me, so I just ran by," Johnson said. Cornell scored again before the whistle blew, but it wasn't enough to beat the Big Green. The final score was 27-17.
"We thought Cornell was going to be good, but we knew if we just played our game we could beat them. And we did," said Snider.
The DWRC will play in the Northeast final four next weekend at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. The top two teams from this tournament will go on to the national tournament, to be held in the spring.
Senior forward Sheila Hicks said the team is eagerly anticipating the upcoming games. "We are going to be amazing this weekend. I am so psyched!"
Christine Devane is a member of the Dartmouth Women's Rugby Club.
