Sept 26 – VL v Bull Moose
Posted on Monday October 5th, 2009 @ 04:35:30 pm

The Lions traveled out to Long Island on Saturday to play Suffolk Bull Moose in Stony Brook. The field was real grass, long and narrow, and the weather was temperate, very nice conditions for rugby. Bull Moose looked imposing in warm-ups, they have some size-able forwards and some pace in the backs, but in the end they did not pose much of a threat. In fact, from the opening minutes the Lions were on the front foot.

The first score came from wing Caitlyn Colman-McGaw, who had 2 tries on the day. The Lions won the ball a couple of phases from the kick-off, and the backline ran a skip and a loop, creating an overload, and Colman ran in the score.

Silent Force Sari Warren scored the next try when she wound up with the ball off the back of a maul, broke through a lackluster tackle attempt, and found herself 20 meters from the try line with nothing but open field in front of her.

Two quick tries had set the tone, and the Lions ran in a total of 8 tries during the game, with a comparable number of backs and forwards scoring. Number 8 Megan Collins used her powerful running and quick feet to score 3 of those tries, and the hat trick, along with her usual superb play, earned her the Woman of the Match jacket.

WOM Collins said, “It feels great to be part of such a cohesive team…the way we’re supporting each other all over the field, whether it be during a ruck or an off-load, combined with improved communication are great signs heading into the 2nd half of the season…this is definitely one of the most talented lions’ teams I’ve been on to date…”

The solid play lasted to the end of the game, when prop Kelly Rogers notched a try. The backs ran the ball through the hands, and flanker Jess Beck got the ball off of the resulting ruck. She ran it forward, popping it to K-Rog, who stiff-armed the last defender and touched down in the corner.

Coach Mary summarized the game as follows: “The team has an offensive field day against the Bull Moose women. Forwards were all over the field provided quality ball to the backs. Our backs reciprocated by joining / clearing rucks when needed allowing the forwards to set up for open field runs. I am looking forward to next weekend’s game versus Hudson Valley. We will get a clearer idea of where we are in our preparation for Monmouth and Regionals as they will be our strongest opposition thus far this league season.”

Lions 46:
Tries: Colman (2), Warren, Collins (3), Rough, Rogers
Cons: Warren (2), Ryan

Team (substitutions not noted): 1 Goodman 2 Harmon 3 Rogers 4 Berger 5 Warren 6 Lovina Anderson 7 Stanley 8 Collins 9 Asser 10 D’Acres 11 Landry 12 Rough 13 Ryan 14 Colman 15 McNicholas