October 3, 2014
The Hamilton women’s rugby team showed their strength with a convincing 43-12 win over SUNY Cortland on Sept. 27. Advancing to 2-1 on the season, the team can look to continued success after a dominant performance.
“We were ready to show… all the time and commitment we put into the first few weeks of the season,” said captain Ana Hernandez ’16, who played a key role in the victory earning three tries for herself as a forward.
Having lost their first game of the season to Colgate 26-8, the team struggled to find momentum early on. “[Colgate] came out really strong,” said Hernandez. “They are always one of our biggest rivals during the season.” However, following a decisive 65-15 win on the road over SUNY Oneonta, the women’s rugby team felt confident and motivated going into Saturday.
“We come out as if we’re playing in the last five minutes,” said Hannah Wagner ’15. True to her word, Wagner and her teammates attacked Cortland right from the start with tries by Blair Frett ’16, Hannah Nekoroski ’15, and Hannah Ferris ’16, whose lone try came from a spectacular mid-tackle offload by Ella Dean ’17 to send her teammate into the in goal area.
“Our goals were to really communicate across the board, and today we were really vocal and enthusiastic, and it showed on the scoreboard,” said Hernandez, who put in two tries herself before halftime; one came off of an impressive fumble return, the other with five Cortland defensemen on her back. The team then entered halftime with a commanding 33-0 lead and positive energy.
“I told [the team] that they were doing a really great job, and just to keep attacking,” said Coach Amanda Benoit. Despite their success however, Benoit warned the team not to let up. “Cortland is a team that does not give up no matter what,” she said, with Hernandez echoing, “It’s easy to get ahead on the scoreboard and then slack off a bit, but we were determined to play a zero-zero game.”
Cortland responded in the second half by keeping the ball with their big, hard-hitting forwards and managed to earn two tries. Recognizing the change, Coach Benoit stressed gang tackling for the rest of the game. “Once we figured out we had to assist on tackles, it worked out great.”
Coach Benoit made defense a strong area of focus before the game to hold back a typically productive Cortland offense. “We forced numerous turnovers in their backline,” she said, proud of her team’s ability to follow the game plan.
Following these turnovers came the ruggers’ ability to capitalize on scoring opportunities with Hernandez earning one more try before the end to put the game firmly out of reach for Cortland.
Other highlights include Emily Kaplan ’15 who went 5-for-6 on try conversions and 1-for-1 on penalty kicks, proving herself to be an invaluable asset to the offensive attack. “She made every kick she needed to make,” commented Benoit. Flanker Sarah Graves ’16 also showed her worth of the front lines. Despite suffering an injury in the final minutes, “she was at every single breakdown,” said her coach.
Following the victory, the women’s rugby team can be sure to continue their hard work heading into this weekend. “Our challenge is to not get complacent and to continue to build,” said Hernandez. Hopefully they can continue their successes in practice for further success come game day.
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