Rugby Crushes Brockport, Falls to Army
Sunday, November 18, 2007
By Douglas Raicek
After a convincing win in the semi-finals against Brockport on Saturday, November 11 and a tough loss to Army on Sunday, Dartmouth finished their fall season in the number two spot in the Northeast, clinching a bid to the USA Rugby D-1 National Collegiate Championships. Dartmouth is now among an elite group of 16 teams that will compete for the National Championship April 18th, 19th, and 20th, 2008.
On Saturday, the Men in Green took early control, putting up 34 unanswered points in the first half. Wasting no time, Dartmouth poached the ball from their own kickoff, spun it wide, and scored in the corner to start the day. The try, scored by wing Dave Chattman ’08 was not converted, leaving the score at 5-0.
At ten minutes in co-captain Drew Jennings ’08 was sin-binned for a high tackle, and it seemed as though Dartmouth might be put on the defensive, but during Jennings’ ten minute stay under the posts, Dartmouth scored twice more. Solid phase-play inside Brockport territory allowed Dartmouth to march forward unhindered. A final string of pick-and-jams from the Dartmouth pack, yielded a try for lock Matt Dinger ’10 in the corner. Both tries went unconverted, leaving the Dartmouth lead at 15-0 at the 20 minute mark.
The Men in Green did well to keep Brockport pinned down in their own territory throughout the half. Jennings seized one such opportunity on the counterattack, as he broke a few tackles and centered the ball under the posts, allowing Kolovson the easy conversion. At 32 minutes in, from a breakdown on the Brockport five-meter line, scrumhalf Tommy Brothers ’11 connected with crashing center Doug Raicek ’08 for the try. Kolovson converted to put the score at 22-0. Center Zack Scott ’08 put up the last points of the half with an impressive 40 meter line break and score. The try, unconverted left the Dartmouth lead at 34-0 at the half.
In the second half, although Dartmouth was less successful on attack, and Brockport found some offensive success, the Dartmouth lead would hold steady. Brockport put their first points up in the 50th minute, exploiting a condensed Dartmouth defensive line by spreading it wide through the backs to get around and score under the posts. 34-7. Brockport would not find the try-line again, and Dartmouth would nail in their victory with two more tries, both from the fresh legs of reserves. The first from a backline break capped off with a run to the corner from wing Gordon Silvera ’08 and the second with an intercepted pass to try from center Nick Ortiz ’08.
On Sunday, rivals Dartmouth and Army butted heads in a grinding match that would test the resolve of both sides. The match was characterized by relentless defense from both contenders, which kept both teams try-less into the second half.
In the first half, Army and Dartmouth each went through their attacking arsenals, looking to break the other side, but clean line-breaks were few and far between, and each defense was quick to quash the other’s attack before the try-line could be reached. Dartmouth had the first scoring opportunity 2 minutes in when lock Zach Foda ’09 appeared to cross the Army try-line. The play was ruled “held up” and Army was able to fight their way out of the subsequent scrum. Army then went on to maintain territory and possession superiority for much of the next quarter of the match.
At 27 minutes Dartmouth moved back into scoring range, and Jeff Kolovson ‘09 put up the first points of the match, capitalizing on an Army penalty within kicking range. Dartmouth attempted to build upon this first success and put up more points, but a few promising attacking opportunities fell just short, including a 50-meter break as flyhalf Conlan O’Leary ’09 off-loaded to wing Dave Chattman ’08 down the blind-side. The ball was spun from the subsequent ruck at the Army 5-meter line, but a knock-on in contact prevented the overlap and try.
Towards the end of the half Army was able to level the score, securing three points from a Dartmouth penalty too close to their own posts. It looked as though Dartmouth might finally put one in just before halftime, as flyhalf Conlan O’Leary ‘09 made another break inside Army territory, dishing to Raicek, who spun it wide to Jennings open on the wing, but the pass was called just forward and halftime was called.
In the second half, the grinding defense continued, but Army secured a five point lead. Dartmouth fought back, working desperately at the breakdown to maintain possession and crack the Army defensive wall. With time winding down and Army up by ten, Dartmouth put all their efforts into producing on attack. In the final few minutes, Army took another three points from a Dartmouth penalty within kicking range to put the score at 3-16. Despite a final goal line offensive flurry for Dartmouth, Army was able to keep the Men in Green from closing the gap, and the clock ran out with Army still up 3-16. n
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