Aspetuck Girls on Hot Streak as Gonzaga Classic Looms

This past weekend, Aspetuck turned their attention to Morris, a fellow EGRL opponent. This was perhaps their toughest game of the year so far—Aspetuck 22 Morris 12. Aspetuck has benefited from not having large groups of players graduating out of the program. The experience of this team, along with the addition of Kennedy, whose skill and goalkicking acumen have helped much, has put them in an excellent position to show well at this coming weekend’s Gonzaga Tournament. Kennedy moved to Aspetuck from Play Rugby and she also has changed positions from flyhalf to scrumhalf. Among the players who have contributed, Weiner’s experience with EIRA has helped elevate her game and she is now a U18 prospect. Kloter and Doherty both benefited from traveling on tour with EIRA.   That close game with Morris was a welcome challenge, especially with the Connecticut team only taking 17 due to spring break absences. “Morris is always a well-coached and well-drilled team,” said Aspetuck Coach John O’Neill. “They have been on the national stage for a lot longer than us. Coach Bill Dobbs and Mike Eisenhart definitely had them prepared.  Both teams played really great defense. Both teams tried really hard to get the other out of structure, and Morris definitely did well at that. We were able to get a few long possessions together a few times to get our scores.”  All four of their tries took a lot of work to score, with Aspetuck battling through multiple phases.  “For us Jennie Weiner was a warrior,” said O’Neill. “She's become excellent at setting up her teammates in phase play. Molly Kennedy at 9 also was really good at controlling the pace. Morris really loaded up their backline and put a lot of pressure on us. They played really great defense, but we were able to get those few long possessions to make the difference.” Aspetuck will be in Pool C with the very handy Raleigh Cobras and Belmont HS, which won the Massachusetts IAA title last year.