Brown Women Fall to Army 27-24

In yet another classic battle Brown fell to Army in a hard fought match full of big hits and exciting runs.

Brown jumped on Army from the opening kick-off driving Army behind their own 22 and bottling them up there for 5 minutes. In the 6th minute wing Patti Ekpo '15 raced around the corner and broke a tackle to go over for the score and put Brown up 5-0. Brown continued to pressure Army playing well organized defense, driving Army back at the rucks and pressuring the big Army backs. Army was able to break free in the 20th minute and score between the posts, Brown 5-Army 7. In the 33rd minute Jessica Sawadago '14 broke loss and dragged Army defenders before breaking tackles and scoring from 30 meters out, Erica Florenz converted and Brown led 12-7. With less then a minute left in the half, Brown ran a nice series that brought them into the Army 22 and Army penalty put Brown in the 5 meter line. Every Brown forward contributed to the next score, picking and driving the ball over for a 17-7 halftime lead.

The second half seemed to flip - Army scored 2 trys in the first 15 minutes to even the match 17-17. Brown surged but was at a defensive disadvantage after speedy wing Patti Ekpo went out with an injury. Army opened up a 27-17 lead before Brown was able to put together a nice series down the sidelines. Once again #8 Jessica Sawadago was the hero, bursting through the Army defense to score, first year Ebony McCaskill converted from a difficult angle; Brown 24-Army 27. The last few minutes were a battle, Brown came close but Army repelled the attack and was able to move into the Brown 50 where the whistle blew.

While the entire team played inspired a few notables include, flyhalf Michelle VanderPloeg who was masterful leading the attack and organizing the Brown defense. Ploegs calm communication and speed to the rucks meant Brown was able to set platforms for hard working scrumhalf Vanessa Munoz '13. 'Nay was on fire, keeping her foot on the gas and forcing the pace of the match. Her forwards responded well, continually hitting their very large Army counterparts and securing platforms for the attack. The defensive play of center Elisha Miles '15 and fullback Allison Hojsak '14 kept the crowd 'ohhing and ahhing' - both fully committed themselves to the tackle - Elisha consistently leveling the Army outside backs. Alli Ho' saved a number of trys at fullback tracking and bringing down Annie Lee the All American Army fullback on break aways.

Brown's last match is this Saturday at McGill University.