SCRIBE NOTES

Williams vs. Amherst

Written by: Katharine Gallagher

After a frustrating tournament loss to Amherst at last weekend’s Beantown, the White Dawgs buckled down in practice with the goal of beating the Lord Jeffs in this week’s league match.  On Sunday, the White Dawgs donned their jerseys, not to be removed until the meeting with Amherst on Saturday.  Driven to conquer the Amherst squad, the White Dawgs trained even at night, embarking on a midnight run throughout the campus.  The ladies pushed hard in practice, even coming down to scrimmage in the freezing rain on Thursday.  Fortunately, Saturday dawned clear and sunny, and the White Dawgs met the Lord Jeffs on the pitch on a beautiful morning.  With many players relatively new to the A-side, including rookies Stephanie Durell ’14, Jennifer Jauregui ’14, and Meredith Yang ’14, the White Dawgs put up a young team.  This team was especially young compared to the members of the Amherst team who seem to be on the 6- or 7-year plan, as opined by alumna Catalina J. Vielma ’10.  She charitably commented that they might simply have forgotten to graduate.  Regardless of this disparity, the White Dawgs put up a solid fight, with an even give-and-take leaving the score at 0-0 as the first half ended.  In the second half, a series of plays right on the White Dawgs’ try line resulted in a try for Amherst, though it was not followed by a successful kick, making the score 5-0 Amherst.  This got the White Dawgs angry.  Despite Amherst’s insistences that this was “their game”, the rugby ladies showed them that it really wasn’t, and responded with a beautiful try by Casey Lyons ’11.  When asked to comment on this glorious try, Presitant Clair Embry responded: “My eyes were dazzled and I had to look away, as it seemed a brilliant light shone from her.”  The White Dawgs were unable to make the kick, and the game ended in a tie of 5-5.  It is clear from this pattern that the White Dawgs will go on to win in their next meeting with the Lord Jeffs during the spring season.

With the A-side match finished, the Killer B’s took the field.  With a mixture of experienced players and brand-new rookies who had never played a game, the Killer B’s nonetheless showed dominance on the pitch, scoring 3 tries to Amherst’s 1.  Tries were scored by rookie Meredith Yang ’14, returning player Mai Okimoto ’13, and freshly healed player Gabrielle Joffe ’11.  The match was a splendid learning experience as the rookies got their feet under them and the returning players honed their skills.  In her first match ever, rookie Isabel Vazquez ’14 made some excellent runs, showing a good head for the game.  Overall, the team has taken a promising start to the rest of the season, and fans can look forward to many more excellent matches from this group.

Posted 9/20/10

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