Statement Wins by Dartmouth, Army in NIRA
Statement Wins by Dartmouth, Army in NIRA
Dartmouth is now secure on top of the NIRA D-I after the Big Green beat Harvard in Cambridge over the weekend.
This was a tense game throughout and it actually wasn’t until the 30th minute that anyone scored. Jordan Duncan finished off a nice sequence to give Dartmouth a 5-0 lead. women's rugby team improved to 5-0 on Saturday with a 26-19 win over rival Harvard.
The opening half saw back and forth play with both teams battling for field position. Both teams made stops at their respective try lines to keep the game scoreless.
Still the teams bashed into each other until finally Harvard took a 7-5 lead when Dartmouth was penalized for losing their binding in the scrum. Reese Morgan tapped quickly and found her support, which eventually linked up with Chloe Headland for the try.
Dartmouth responded with a powerful pick-and-go for Duncan. Annie Henrich converted for a 12-7.
Some concerted pressure from Harvard set up a smart run from Tiahna Padilla, who ghosted through a gap and sent it wide to Josephine Mignone, who scored in the corner. Now it was 12-12.
Time was winding down when the Dartmouth forwards once again exerted their power and Vasiti Turagavou picked up and was over from close range. Henrich converted to make it 19-12. No problem; Harvard’s used their pack to crash toward the line and Neasa McLaughlin’s try, along with the conversion, tied it up again at 19-19.
But Dartmouth would have the final say. In the final minute Josie Harrison pounced on a loose ball and was in. Henrich converted to make it 26-19, and then ran out the clock.
So, yes, Dartmouth it top of the NIRA D-I but this was was very close. Harvard perhaps can take a few lessons from this match is it looks like we could well see these two in the D-I final once more.
Also in D-I this weekend tries from Lara Olmstead, Mia Young, and Alexis Rohrbach staked Navy to a 19-0 halftime lead and then saw Princeton storm back with two tries. Ella Callahan’s try kept Princeton at arm’s length, which did the job since Princeton did score as time expired. Navy 24 Princeton 19.
Army defeated Queens 29-15. Queens led early but prop McKaye O’Boyle’s try-scoring run continued and with Alissa Eisenhart adding a conversion and a penalty it was a 10-10 tie.
Second-half tries from Yesenia Morales, Gabby Woenker, and Morales again made it 29-10 (two conversions from Eisenhart) and they held on 29-15.
Non-Conference Games
Quinnipiac defeated AIC 41-15 in a D-I-vs-D-II matchup. Kelsey Thomas and Lucy Lamborn both scored two tries; Naomi Dodd scored two first-half tries for AIC but the YellowJackets were held scoreless in the second half.
Sacred Heart and Davenport played in a 41-42 barnburner. Davenport stormed out to an early lead and were ahead 24-15 at halftime. But a late converted try and a penalty tied it up for SHU at the end of the game.
Carrie Coyer-Westerberg scored three tries for Davenport and Lionala Mayorga scored two. Seven different Pioneers scored for Sacred Heart.
Long Island played Mount St. Mary’s in a non-standings game and LIU won 46-0 to notch their third win in a row. LIU has been playing what is essentially a rebuilding schedule and have logged wins over West Chester and Northeaster, but lost to Life University. They have New Haven, Army, and Penn State on the slate.