The women’s rugby team defeated the College of the Holy Cross in a decisive 54-7 victory last Saturday in the American College Rugby Association (ACRA) Round of 32.
Head Coach MaryBeth Mathews said that that Saturday’s victory was a hard fought team effort.
“It was a total team win,” said Mathews. “They played very well and continue to play better each week. That was terrific to come away with such a convincing win, and Holy Cross was a tough team. Despite the score, they played all 80 minutes. They never gave up. So our team had to fight for every point that they scored.”
Emily Athanas-Linden ’15 said that Bowdoin played a strong, physical game.
“There was some great tackling from both of our [senior] captains, Maura Allen and Amanda Montenegro,” she said. “The tackling was crucial because there were a number of points where we were very much on the defensive—they had about 10 meters until the try line.”
Hayleigh Kein ’15, Cammie Ogden-Fung ’17 and Montenegro all contributed important stops to help shut down the Crusaders.
The Polar Bears led 27-0 after the first half, and now have an 8-1 record.
Kein added that consistent, solid play across the board contributed to the win despite the team’s physical mismatches.
“We did well in our rucking—our tackling,” said Kein. “They were a pretty big, strong team but we at least slowed them down.”
Although the consensus among players was that this was a team win, some players stood out. Mathews noted Allen, Anna Piotti ’16, Charlotte Kleiman ’15 and Page Pfannenstiel ’17, in particular.
Bowdoin will next play Hamilton at Vassar College tomorrow at 2 p.m in the ACRA Round of 16. A win will put them up against the winner of Stonehill vs. Kutztown.
“We know very little about Hamilton,” said Athanas-Linden. “We’ve heard that they’re like us—fast and small.”
This is the third year in a row that the women’s rugby team has won their conference; however, Athanas-Linden described this year’s team as different from that of the past couple of years.
“In the past two years we’ve had a couple of stand out players, who are recognized at the national level for being really excellent players,” said Athanas-Linden. “But this year we don’t have players like that. So what we’ve gained instead is a real team talent.”