3.31 – Women @ Severn River

After a successful outing at the club’s own Four Leaf 15s tournament (2-1), the Village Lions Women competed in their first 80-minute friendly of the spring 2012 season against Severn River in Maryland. Thirty players in two vans and three cars, one of which is still in Maryland getting some bodywork before returning to its mama in Greenpoint, N.Y., made the trip south and logged some important A and B side time on the pitch.

The Leonas got off to a sluggish start – maybe it was the four-hour drive, maybe it was the unfamiliar grass turf – but whatever the case, 15 minutes passed before the Village Lions had their heads fully in the game. As a result, Severn River was able to run in three tries before the halftime whistle.

The team regrouped at halftime and used the downhill grade to produce some more continuous play. The Lions’ first try came after a long drive downfield that had Severn River defending desperately and which eventually led to a penalty on their five meter. Scrumhalf and B side Woman of the Match Kim Dacres quick-tapped through the mark and hit lock Jess Houser breaking weakside. The captain pinned two defenders closing in for the tackle, and at the last second, dished to fullback Jackie Finlan to score in the corner.

Severn River sported some physically intimidating players in both their forwards and also in the backs, notably their #10, Meredith, who was difficult to take down. Flanker Dana Szakacs, playing in her first full game at loose forward, did a great job of pressuring the halfback and earned the Silent Force nod for her effort.

“The competition was strong, very fit and consistent,” the former wing said. “I don’t think they let down for a minute. It was probably one of the toughest, physical games I’ve played as a Lion thus far. Once we got into our groove, we played better defense and were able to post up and make the proper defensive shifts. We also got the ball in our hands a few times and made a few strong runs for the try – some great team efforts!”

The Lions answered with some physicality of their own in the second half, and No. 8 Cerra Cardwell was particularly key in stopping fringe punchers from achieving the gainline. The breakaway accounted for the team’s second try by finishing off a long march downfield and barreling over a few defenders for the dot-down.

“Each time we scored, it was the continuation of a good run of play,” B side Silent Force and A side front row Sari Warren said. “It didn’t feel like a miracle; it just felt like we were doing what we were supposed to be doing consistently.”

Flyhalf Missy Manning was in position to set up the Lions’ final try, blocking a clearing kick off a Severn lineout deep in their end. Szakacs foiled the offense’s attempts to move the ball out of danger and caused a missed pass that trickled into the try zone. Flanker Tricia Stanley was on the pursuit and dove on the ball ingoal for the five-pointer.

In the end, Severn River outscored the Lions by a count of five or six tries to three. Following the A side match, both teams played in an abbreviated B side game that saw the full Lions squad take a crack at Severn River. The game resembled that of the A side match, with Severn’s size and power challenging the Lions’ tackling rate, but a few nice breakaways and defensive stands insinuated that a healthy, deep roster is in the works.

Although it was difficult to return home with the loss, there were certainly benefits to the experience.

“Playing a team as able and fit as Severn River early in the season is an excellent way to find out where we need to focus our attentions in the coming weeks,” Warren said. “Getting pinged for offsides as often as we did shows us that we need to work on an efficient, quick transition to our defensive line, and also that we have to adjust to the way any given referee is calling the game.

“While we didn’t manage it consistently, when we were able to put together multiple phases, we looked pretty solid,” Warren added. “It’s a good start to build off moving forward into the year.”

Coach Coqui Moreno added that attitude – present at the game’s kickoff – was the team’s biggest barrier of the day. The team is focusing on engaging the mental side of the game as it has two weeks before its next friendly. The Lions will retake the pitch on Saturday, April 14 for a round robin against Hartford and Worcester on the road.

ROSTER: Nancy Allen, Dev Brumberger, Meg Collins*, Caitlyn Colman, Angela Corpus, Kim Dacres, Jackie Finlan, Kim Gargan, Jess Houser, Hala Iqbal, Amanda Leinberger, Niki Machac, Missy Manning, Christina Manzi, Rosa Moshi, Katy Nishimoto, Meg O’Connell, Cait O’Donnell, Tracy Pecher, Kelly Rogers, Rosie Rough*, Ais Smith, Tricia Stanley, Sherika Sylvester, Dana Szakacs, Casey Warner, Sari Warren, Stacey Wiedaseck, Sara Zaremba

3.24.12 Women @ Four Leaf 15s

By Sari Warren

Saturday, March 24 the Lions hosted the 4-Leaf Fifteens tournament at Randall’s Island. It’s the biggest event the club puts on all year, and it takes months of work and many volunteers on the day. The Leonas put in a strong playing performance, but, more importantly, everyone chipped in to make the event a success. Jackie Finlan, an active player who co-chaired the tournament committee with Sharon Berger, and the driving force behind this year’s event, put it thusly: “The tournament committee can only do so much up until the opening kickoff, but after that first whistle, we needed all hands on deck to make Four Leafs come off successfully. I was so impressed how the women sacrificed cheering on their teammates during games to instead man a volunteer post halfway across the site. It’s instances like those that reinvigorate your investment in the team, and I’m so happy that good spirit is going strong.” (Jackie was also this weekend’s Silent Force for her hard work off the pitch.)

The Leonas started the day with their first pool match, playing upstate neighbors Hudson Valley. It was the first 15s match-up between the two since last spring, and HV brought the enthusiasm and physicality that the Lions have come to expect. The rucks and open play started out a bit sloppy as the Lions worked off first-game-of-the-season jitters, and Hudson Valley came out strong from the get-go. Midway through the first half the Lions found some composure: the forwards began to maintain ball possession consistently, and the backs were able to capitalize, running in four tries over the 40-minute game. Lions 20, Hudson Valley, 0

Next up was the Norfolk Storm, who traveled up from Virginia for the tournament. An fairly even match-up physically, the Lions had the edge in possession, but neither team was able to advance past the other’s 22 for much of the game. The Leona’s halftime talk focused on containing the Storm’s back row, specifically their powerful 8-man, Darcy Nelson. The second half saw more cohesion on defense on both sides, and thus no score until the last minute of play. The Lions were awarded a penalty about 10 m out from the Storm’s try line, and Lions newcomer, Woman of the Weekend (WOW!) and flyhalf Missy Manning calmly slotted the points, winning a very close contest for the home team. Lions 3, Storm 0

The Leonas 2-0 record afforded them a place in the tournament semi-finals, and in the early afternoon they took on NYRFC. The New York women are a perennial force to be reckoned with, and today was no exception. New York secured and maintained much of the possession, and they were skilled at finding the breaking point in the Lions defensive line and using the pace of their backline to break for the try zone. The Lions fought hard, but were less fit and a bit cowed by the New York team, and went down by three tries. The two teams meet again in May, and the Leonas are working hard to be prepared to meet them physically and mentally in that next match-up. Lions 0, NY 19

Tournament Squad: Nancy Allen, Carly Sousa, Missy Manning, Tracy Pecher, Casey Warner, Stacey Wiedaseck, Kelly Rogers, Niki Machac, Sherika Sylvester, Kimbo Dacres, Kim Gargan, Dana Szakacs, Hala Iqbal, Christina Manzi, Tricia Stanley, Sari Warren, Amanda Leinberger, Aislinn Smith, Meg Collins, Sara Zaremba, Cait O’Donnell, Angela Corpus, Rosie Rough, Dev Brumberger, Jess Houser, Caitlyn Colman-McGaw, Robyn Martinich, Meg O’Connell, Katy Nish, Renae Beauchman

*Both photos credit Andy Wagner