The Dartmouth Rugby Football Club hit the pitch on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon at Witter Field in Berkeley, Cal. After a strong fall season, the DRFC grabbed a berth in the National Sweet 16, representing the North East as the No. 2 team from the region and the ninth seed in the tournament.
After victory in the Ivy League Championship tournament, Dartmouth faced the University of Tennessee in the first round of Nationals. The Volunteers came out of their season as the top team from the south and the eighth seed in the tournament. The game promised to be physical, with Dartmouth looking to overwhelm Tennessee early.
The Men in Green came out firing, hungry for the first score. An early penalty in front of Tennessee's goalpost proved a perfect opportunity for Andrew Caspary '06 to put the first points on the board.
Continued pressure by Dartmouth was constantly thwarted by knock-ons and penalties. Tennessee turned the tide, however, from the kickoff and was able to sneak its wing into the corner off of loose play, giving Tennessee the lead, 5-3.
Shortly after the try, Dartmouth rallied as Brad Hogate '05 chased his own kick into the try zone. Points from the corner by Caspary made the score 10-5 Dartmouth.
Tennessee took possession in the minutes following the try, and Jesse Blom '06 capitalized on an opportunity to exhibited his stellar skill and great vision.
Blom picked off an errant Tennessee pass and ran it 35 meters into the try zone. With just under 20 minutes left in the half, Dartmouth looked to be poised to dominate the match leading 15-5.
However, a slew of penalties weakened the Big Green's attack, and Tennessee spent much of the end of the half in Dartmouth's territory.
While the DRFC could not get it in gear on offense, they played with an inspiring will on defense. Many times the Men in Green would find their heels on the tryline and constantly push Tennessee back away from their goal.
Still, Dartmouth did not escape into the intermission unscathed. The Volunteers kicked for points twice to end the half with the Big Green lead cut to 15-11.
During the second half, penalties and dropped passes continued to plague the DRFC. Tennessee took advantage of many of these ineptitudes and turned them into 17 unanswered points, making the score 28-15 in favor of the Volunteers.
While tries by Joe Killefer '06 and Dan Correa '05 pulled Dartmouth back into contention, in the end, the physical strain of playing defense for so much of the game took its toll on the Big Green effort. Tennessee took the match 35-25 and went on to be trounced by Berkeley 65-3.
The following day, an inspired Dartmouth team came out to defeat a large University of Minnesota squad 42-26.
The DRFC put together a strong run in the national tournament, but poor execution kept them from the elite eight. However, with a strong 2006 class led by captain Jesse Blom, the DRFC promises to be back in the hunt next year.
