Rugby Teams Suffer Double Defeat
Issue date: 10/21/09 Section: Sports
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The Longwood men's and women's rugby were on the road this past weekend to play Virginia Rugby Union (VRU) league matches.
First, the women's teams traveled to Williamsburg to play the College of William & Mary (W&M). In recent games, Longwood has had the upper hand in matches with W&M while also being very competitive. This game was no different. W&M open by dominating territory in the first 15 minutes but strong defense, led by Ashlee Irby kept the Tribe out of the end-zone. After a long stretch of constant attack W&M scored but missed the conversion to take 5-0 lead. Longwood responded very quickly with long runs from Gabby Dixon and Kaelynn Nill and at the 25-minute mark Emily Laura scored and the Nicole Widder-Varhyegi conversion gave LU the lead 7-5. After the ensuing kickoff W&M resumed their attack and pushed over another try and a penalty kick to make the half-time score 15-7.
Unfortunately, LU could not keep up the pace in the second half and W&M ran away with the game, completing a 40-7 win. The loss leaves LU in third place in the VRU standings. The team has already qualified for the State Championship playoffs in Roanoke, which will be held Nov. 7-8.
The Longwood men's rugby team traveled to Newport News to play Christopher Newport University (CNU). Games with CNU have been extremely close in the past, but CNU has never beaten LU. This game was played in less than favorable conditions with rain and very large pools of water on the field. The game was a defensive struggle from the beginning. LU held territorial advantage for much of the first half, but could only manage one try from Paul Brockman to hold a slim 5-0 halftime lead.
After the break, CNU came out strong and kept up a strong attack on the LU try line, and pushed over a try at the 50-minute mark. LU had several key injuries and a red-card ejection, playing the last 15 minutes with only 14 men. A try by LU and a try and conversion by CNU made the score 12-10 in CNU's favor with 10 minutes left to play. Two penalty kicks from LU were off the mark and at the final whistle; CNU had its first victory ever over LU.
The defeat was the first loss of the season for LU in the VRU play, but LU still holds first place in the league. LU's league games are complete, while CNU has one more game against the University of Richmond (UR) where they can claim the regular season title. LU has already qualified to the State Championship playoffs and will play UR or Washington & Lee in the first round on Nov. 7 in Roanoke.
For more information, visit longwoodrugby.org.
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