Brown 64 v. Columbia 28

Columbia mishandled two balls in or at the goal line which were pounced on by prop Max Spurrell for the first try of the half (11th minute) and by center Pablo Lavilla for the last try of the half (39th minute).

Between these two gifts, hooker Adam Eberle scored off a 5 meter Brown scrum drive in the 11th minute, fly half Jon Kim scored on a 35 meter line break at 23 minutes, and #8 Jae Kim and lock Austin Royer each scored off driving lineouts in the 30th and 37th minutes respectively. 

Approximately 8 minutes into the match, after a long deliberation with his touch judges, the referee gave Brown scrum half Peter Smith a yellow card. Brown was forced to play without Pete for 10 minutes. Brown slowed the pace of play and got through the card without Columbia scoring, but then Columbia’s #12 made a line break in the 18th minute of the first half, shrugging off several tacklers for a 50 meter try which the Lions converted for their only points of the first half. Columbia’s hard running and Brown’s less than sure tackling would prove to be a problem in the second half.

The second half began on a positive note with Jae Kim passing to fullback Christos Economos for a try in the 42nd minute, raising the score to 45-7. But then the Bears got caught up in Columbia’s frenetic pace of play as the Lions tried to get back into the match. 

Within the next 8 minutes, Columbia backs scored two more tries, both converted, bringing the Lions to a 45-21 deficit. At this point Brown was clearly on its back foot. The match continued to see-saw more like a basketball game than a rugby match. At 58 minutes, Christos Economos scored his second try for Brown and at 63 minutes Columbia added one final converted try. Two minutes later, Columbia mishandled another ball in goal, alertly touched down by team Captain Alex Ogilvy and converted by Jon Kim. In 25 minutes, Brown had scored 17 points and Columbia had scored 21 points. 

A final Columbia handling error gave Adam Eberle his second and Brown’s final try of the match, converted by Jon Kim. Although Columbia had given Brown a bit of concern in the second half, outscoring the Bears 24-21, Columbia had dug itself a hole that was too deep to escape. Columbia has conceded four tries to mishandled balls at or in the in-goal area. 

The Bears could have built on their solid first half performance but instead took their foot off the pedal and coasted in for the win. Brown will travel next Saturday to Dartmouth to take on the Big Green for the Ivy Conference Championship. Dartmouth defeated Harvard yesterday 70-0, allowing no points. Brown has a great opportunity this Saturday but, it remains to be seen if Brown can play their match of this season and take it to Dartmouth.