Exciting Spring for Dartmouth Women!
The Dartmouth Women’s Rugby Club started out the spring season with an exciting tour in Vancouver, B.C., Victoria, B.C., and Seattle, WA. The DWRC played three tough teams, defeating the University of Washington by a large margin and falling to two experienced Canadian teams, the Nanaimo Hornets and the University of Victoria. All were hard-fought games that prepared the team for the difficult spring season to come.
Shortly after returning from their trip, the Big Green headed to Providence, RI for the Ivy League Final Four Tournament. On the first day of the tournament, Dartmouth suffered a tough loss to Brown University. The Dartmouth defense struggled to contain Brown's strong runners in the first half but showed great improvement in the second half. The DWRC then avenged their fall season loss against Harvard University with a big 20-12 win on the second day of the tournament. Dartmouth started the game strong, and quickly put three tries on the board. The Big Green scrum dominated Harvard’s, giving them the momentum they needed to come out on top. The team played with heart, passion and tenacity to give them the win that was the highlight of the season.
Dartmouth took a short break from 15s to participate in the Scott Milley Memorial 7’s tournament at the University of New Hampshire. The DWRC A’s dominated their pool and won 1st place by showcasing their excellent fitness and handling skills. The B’s also dominated, only losing one match in an exhibition of the great teamwork, intelligence, and evolution that was the hallmark of the B side's undefeated fall 15s season, and an indication of great things to come.
The DWRC practiced 15s in the remaining games of the season. The Big Green fell to the B-side of Beantown, a U.S. Premier League club team. Huge tackle breaking runs by DWRC forwards and successful conversions kept them in the game but the final score was 14-24.
As the final hurrah of their spring season, Dartmouth traveled to Norwich University in a round robin again Norwich B’s and North Shore, a women’s club team. The DWRC showed off their offensive capabilities and adjusted their game to come out on top against two aggressive opponents. It was an exciting way to end a season.
This exciting and successful spring season now ends on a bittersweet note as the DWRC says goodbye to their beloved seniors, the graduating Dartmouth Class of 2013. The entire team would like to thank captains Emma Vance ’13 and Karoline Walter ’13 for incredible leadership and compassion on and off the field, as well as impressive and consistent play. In addition, the dedication, mentorship, and backline excellence of Matt Sturm ’13, SK Amaro ’13, and Maggie Conners ’13 will be dearly missed.
-Submitted by Diana M. L. Wise