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 The Women of the New York Rugby Club defeated the Minnesota Valkyries 32-15 in the semi-finals on Nov 10 to earn a spot in the USA Rugby National Championship Final on Nov 12 against the 9-time defending champion Berkeley All Blues. The NY Women then beat Berkeley for the first time ever in an amazing game of rugby (final score 22-17) to take home the National Championship! See full game write-up from coach Drew Fautley below...
photo credit: Chuck Bruce It took two phenomenal victories against two excellent opponents to finish what completed a team goal and to kick the monkey of New York’s back! PHOTOS OF THE WEEKEND FROM SABRINA ASCH PHOTOS OF THE WEEKEND FROM CHUCK BRUCE At an incredible facility in Disney’s Wide World of Sports organized by our very own Jessa Giordano and 360 Sports, New York traveled down to Orlando with over 70 people. Was it to be the year New York took care of business and attain the premier label of National Champion or were they going to miss out again?. The squad of 28 Collier, Annie (Capt)
Lake, Lisa (Forward Leader)
O’Hare, Robin
Luttrell, JoAnn
MacCallum, Katie
Audage, Kate
Dengler, Molly
Epstein, Jen
Flynn, Rachel
Vivolo, Lara
Brethel, Katie
Hill, Katie
London, Laura
McMahon, Kelly
Knight, Phaidra
Rubenstein, Heidi
Bruce, Michelle
Price, Alison
Knight, Lee
Mogro, Daniela
Baja, Kristin
Aerts, Hedwig
Brafman, Rebecca
MacGowan, Rosalie
Flateman, Jenna
McGee, Vanesha
Weikman, Maura (Backs Leader) Staff Drew Fautley (Head Coach)
Chris “Pudge” Ryan (Coach)
Bartoli, Lisa (Team Doctor)
USA National Club Championship Semi-Final
Friday, November 10th, 2006 - 2:30pm Matched against the very large, well coached and very fit Minnesota Valkyries, New York had to erase the memories of the past several years and commit to getting to the final. The lead up to this game was a lot looser and more case specific than in recent attempts and the team appeared to be in a ‘good place’. The new approach paid off very quickly with the forwards providing excellent ball to the backs that were firing off all cylinders creating gaps in the Valks defense. An early penalty conversion by Kristin Baja and an unconverted try by Lock Katie Brethel had the Orange and Blue up by eight points in the first 15 minutes. Championship teams like the Valkyries do not sit back and watch you beat them, within a couple of minutes they retaliated with a score in the corner to bring the game tighter at 8-5. Some hard defensive stands and incredible contact situations was par for the course for the next 15 minutes until the Eagle backline worked their magic and sent away fullback Maura Weikman in for a try. Sadly an earlier shoulder injury to outstanding Flyhalf, Kristin Baja caught up with her and she was done for the day, replaced by Rebecca Brafman. New York piled on more pressure that resulted in a converted try by flanker Phaidra Knight with Hedwig Aerts taking over the kicking duties. Right before the break, the Valkyries wanted to send a message that they were not out of it by scoring in the last minute to make the half time score 20-10 New York. Not sure if it was the heat of the day, the monkey on New York’s back or the Valkyries intent to win from behind again, but the first few minutes of the second half found the Mid-West ladies clawing their way back into the game with a try in the 53rd minute (20-15). Once several adjustments were called for by the sidelines and the songs and cheers from the incredible New York contingent soaked in, New York turned on the gas and attacked everything they could in the last ten minutes of the game. The constant pressure and excellent rucking provided the spectacular back line with the ball they needed to create. Maura Weikman got her second try of the day that was converted by Hedwig Aerts (27-15). The final icing on the cake came from the excellent power running of Rebecca Brafman resulting in a try and a hard fought win. This game was an incredible match to watch and a very tough match to be in, both sides gave everything they had. 01 COLLIER, Annie (Capt)
02 AUDAGE, Kate (iv)
03 LAKE, Lisa (ii)
04 VIVOLO, Lara
05 BRETHEL, Katie
06 RUBENSTEIN, Heidi (iii)
07 KNIGHT, Phaidra
08 McMAHON, Kelly
09 KNIGHT, Lee
10 BAJA, Kristin (i)
11 McGEE, Vanesha
12 AERTS, Hedwig
13 WARNER, Keenya
14 FLATEMAN, Jenna
15 WEIKMAN, Maura Playing Reserves 35th Min. BRAFMAN, Rebecca (i)
60th Min. O’HARE, Robin (ii)
65th Min. PRICE, Alison (iii)
65th Min. MacCALLUM, Katie (iv)
Scoreline
07 Min 03-00 BAJA – Penalty Conversion
13 Min 08-00 BRETHEL – Unconverted Try
17 Min 08-05 VALKYRIES – Unconverted Try
33 Min 13-05 WEIKMAN – Unconverted Try
37 Min 18-05 KNIGHT, Ph – Try
37 Min 20-05 AERTS – Conversion
39 Min 20-10 VALKYRIES – Unconverted Try Half Time 53 Min 20-15 VALKYRIES – Unconverted Try
71 Min 25-15 WEIKMAN – Try
71 Min 27-15 AERTS – Conversion
78 Min 32-15 BRAFMAN – Unconverted Try Final
USA National Club Championship Final
Sunday, November 12th, 2006 - 2:00pm On a beautiful warm breezy day in Florida, the two teams that provided the most players to the U.S. World Cup campaign and thus the most affected were to battle it out on a perfect field with one of the best referees in the country and a large player contingent and crowd to watch a great game of rugby. The introductions and national anthem added to the prestige of the game and New York came straight in with their game plan to attack the All-Blues on every facet of the game. After a period of fifteen minutes where both teams were trying to figure each other out, New York’s superb back line were the first to hit with upcoming star Maura Weikman finishing a beautiful move for the go ahead try. New York’s constant pressure was met by excellent defense and several offside penalties ultimately resulted in a conversion by Hedwig Aerts and a team yellow card given to Berkeley’s Fullback, Ashley English. New York capitalized of the weakness and sent super fast Jenna Flateman away with one player to beat. The head to head speed battle was one by Jenna and the try was converted again by the strong boot of Hedwig Aerts. Although New York went into the half time break up 17 points, they also knew they were playing the nine time USA Champions and they were going to be playing a different look team going into the second half. The first fifteen minutes of the half saw Berkeley change their entire game plan and were rewarded with two tries to claw themselves back to a five point deficit. After loosing warrior flyhalf Kristin Baja (who played 65 awesome minutes with a shoulder separation), New York adjusted one more time for the final push for the title. An incredible run and “grub kick” (huh?) by outstanding flanker Phaidra Knight was corralled by rookie wing Vanesha McGee and ran in for the try. Berkeley was not yet done, they kept coming and New York conceded once, but did enough to finally win their first national championship. What a pleasure! 01 COLLIER, Annie (Capt)
02 AUDAGE, Kate (iv)
03 LAKE, Lisa (i)
04 VIVOLO, Lara
05 BRETHEL, Katie
06 RUBENSTEIN, Heidi (ii)
07 KNIGHT, Phaidra (v)
08 McMAHON, Kelly
09 KNIGHT, Lee
10 BAJA, Kristin (iii)
11 McGEE, Vanesha
12 AERTS, Hedwig
13 WARNER, Keenya
14 FLATEMAN, Jenna
15 WEIKMAN, Maura Playing Reserves 55th Min. O’HARE, Robin (i)
60th Min. PRICE, Alison (ii)
65th Min. BRAFMAN, Rebecca (iii)
68th Min. MacCALLUM, Katie (iv)
75th Min. BRUCE, Michelle (v)
Scoreline
19 Min 05-00 WEIKMAN – Try
19 Min 07-00 AERTS – Conversion
30 Min 10-00 AERTS – Penalty Conversion
32 Min 15-00 FLATEMAN – Try
32 Min 17-00 AERTS – Conversion Half Time 48 Min 17-05 BERKELEY – Unconverted Try
57 Min 17-12 BERKLEY – Converted Try
70 Min 22-12 McGEE – Unconverted Try
78 Min 22-17 BERKELEY – Unconverted Try Final
Special thanks goes to all our teammates, family and friends that traveled down to experience these incredible games. Also, thanks to everyone that has sent emails!
USA Rugby Press Release: http://www.usarugby.org/cgi-bin/02/press/displayFullAnnouncement.pl?announcementId=483 |
