Brown Women Beat a Heralded Princeton Team 33-5

In a match characterized by big hits and tough runs the Brown women beat a heralded Princeton team at home by a big margin. Bottom line: Brown played a suffocating defence and Princeton didn't.

Wing Patti Ekpo '15 opened the scoring 13 minutes in with a beautiful 60 meter run, taking the corner and breaking tackles to score under the posts, Erica Florenz '13 converted and Brown was off to a 7-0 lead. The tale of the match was the contact area - Brown was committed to 'owning' the point of contact and as a result Princeton was hit hard and hit often. The Brown forwards were relentless pursuing every play with fury - Bruno showed maturity under pressure reading the Princeton attack - as a result Princeton was swamped when they released the ball. Balls delivered  to the Princeton backs most often resulted in a swarm of brown jerseys, fierce hits and turnover ball. Twenty-four minutes in the Princeton # 10 put up a long kick deep into Brown territory, first year fullback Saskia 'Kiki' Morgan caught the ball in stride and ran 70 yards leaving stunned Princeton players in the dust, Erica Florenz converted from a difficult angle and Brown was up 14-0.

The second half started with a smart Princeton move, a short kick-off chip and recover. Princeton drove down into the Brown 22 but #8 Jessica Sawadago '15 made a nice hit, stole the ball and set the Brown backline free. Captain and flyhlaf Michelle VanderPloeg '13 played brilliantly drawing the defense and setting wing Patti Ekpo free for a 60 meter sprint and score. Erica converted from yet another difficult angle and Brown was up 21-5. The big hits and defensive pressure really began to take a toll on the Tiger backs and they began to look for the pressure. Fifty-six minutes in Brown ran a play off a line out that reversed the field - Michelle Vander Ploeg was able to over commit the defense and spin the ball to a streaking Kiki Morgan who scored in the corner, Brown 26-5. Relentless defensive pressure set up the final score as center Erica Florenz benefited off a turned ruck, Erica found space down the sideline and outran the flagging Tiger defensive to score, she converted her try and Brown ended the match with a 33-5 win.

Scoring Summary

Brown Try Patti Epko '15, 5-0
Brown Conversion Erica Florenz '13, 7-0
Brown Try Saski 'Kiki' Morgan, 12-0
Brown Conversion Erica Florenz, 14-0
Half: Brown 14 - Princeton 0

Brown Try Patti Epko '15, 19-0
Princeton Try Juju Obioha '14, 19-5
Brown Conversion Erica Florenz '13, 21-5
Brown Try Saski 'Kiki' Morgan, 26-5
Brown Try Erica Florenz '13, 31-5
Brown Conversion Erica Florenz, 33-5
Final: Brown 33 - Princeton 5

2nd XV's

The Brown 2nd XV's took on Princeton in a hard fought match. Princeton scored first but Brown came right back to tie it up. First year Brown player Ebony McCaskill '16 took a ball from a penalty tap and broke through the Princeton line - Ebony broke a number of tackles to score from 30 meters out - she converted her try to bring Brown to 7-7 score.

Princeton scored right before the half to go on top.

The second half was hard fought with both teams making nice moves deep into each others 22 only to be held out by emotional defensive stands. Ebony McCaskill scored her second try off a #8 pick up and a nice run around down the weak side to score in the corner. Ebony missed the conversion by a hair. Princeton played 20 players in this game, of whom 13 were rookies. Princeton's rookies Eliana Glatt '16 and MaddyLea '16 scored the trys and Cat Lambert '15 converted one of them.  The match ended in a 12-12 tie.

Final: Brown 12 - Princeton 12