24 players drove down to Washington DC to compete with NoVa while surrounded by tourists and the Cherry Blossoms and came away with hard fought wins...

Losing Jamie Skiba during warm-up to a pulled calf muscle added to the load of the remaining players that were to embark on approximately three hours of constant rugby with a Senior Game (2 X 40 Minutes) and a Developmental Game (3 x 30 Minutes).

As the day went on, we lost more players to injury. Michelle Bruce to a sore shoulder, Zania Campos to a popped Hamstring and Molly Dengler to a knock to the head. All players that went down saw a lot of rugby and put together some good phases resulting in two wins against the Piranhas. Our hosts, coached by all time favorite team member Lee Knight, are definitely a team to watch in the future with huge numbers and a lot of developing talent.

SENIOR MATCH

New York 37 (15-17) 25 NoVa Piranhas

Saturday, April 5th, 2008
Independence Ave & SW 15th Street, Washington, DC

Field: Grass (Average Condition with slope)

Weather: Sunny with breeze

New York was put to task early and often in the first half with the host’s forcing most of the play. An early try due to missed tackles by NoVa in the third minute told the visitors that this was to be a tough game (0-5). Retaliation was swift with a surging try by Rebecca Brafman in the 8th minute and Rosalie MacGowan in the 14th minute (10-5). After many phases of to and fro rugby, NoVa started to put the ball out to their talented wings and USA Sevens specialists Jenn Starkey and Dana Creager. The tables had turned again and Nova was up (10-17) close to the halfway mark. New York responded again with a good team try finished by Fullback Heather VanderHOOP. Half time (15-17)

After an early try by Nova to surge ahead, New York turned the game around and never looked back. A penalty on the five yard line for New York found Eagle Carrie DuBray powering over a player defending on the try line for the score that was converted by the sure boot of Maura Weikman (20-22). With the score tight, New York changed their format of rucking and attack making their opponents scramble to adjust. A powerful try by center Laura Bilazarian put New York ahead and they never looked back again (29-22). Dueling penalty kicks half way through the second half presented a score of (32-25) going into the last ten minutes of the game. A late try by standout, Hedwig Aerts finalized the game.

1. COLLIER, Annie
2. DENGLER, Molly
3. LLOYD, Fontaine
4. VIVOLO, Lara
5. DuBRAY, Carrie
6. BRUCE, Michelle
7. KNIGHT, Phaidra
8. PADDOCK, Stephanie
9. WEBB, Amanda
10. AERTS, Hedwig
11. WEIKMAN, Maura
12. BRAFMAN, Rebecca
13. BILAZARIAN, Laura
14. MacGOWAN, Rosalie
15. VanDerHOOP, Heather

Reserves

FLYNN, Rachel for BRUCE 26th Minute

CAMPOS, Zania for VanDerHOOP 40th Minute

LONDON, Laura for FLYNN 65th Minute

HUGHES, Rachel for LLOYD 68th Minute

DAVIS, Jenny for PADDOCK 70th Minute

Timeline

03 Min 00-05 Unconverted try by NoVa

08 Min 05-05 Unconverted try by Rebecca BRAFMAN

14 Min 10-05 Unconverted try by Rosalie MacGOWAN

27 Min 10-12 Converted try by NoVa

30 Min 10-17 Unconverted try by NoVa

32 Min 15-17 Unconverted try by Heather VanDerHOOP

Half-Time

06 Min 15-22 Unconverted try by NoVa

10 Min 20-22 Try by Carrie DuBRAY

          22-22 Conversion by Maura WEIKMAN

18 Min 27-22 Try by Laura BILAZARIAN

          29-22 Conversion by Maura WEIKMAN

21 Min 29-25 Penalty kick by NoVa

23 Min 32-25 Penalty kick by Maura WEIKMAN

35 Min 37-25 Unconverted try by Hedwig AERTS

The Second game of the day was to be a three thirty minute period event so the mass of NoVa players could get experience. The meant that the depleted travelers from New York were to get a work out!. And they did. Although there were many changes, below is the list of starting line-ups for each period and a breakdown of scores, etc.

All-in-all a great showing by so few. The team spirit was excellent all day and no one had an issue with the amount of playing time (or at least they didn’t say anything).

Period #1

-- Min 05-00 Try by Zania CAMPOS

-- Min 07-00 Conversion by Maura WEIKMAN

-- Min 07-05 Unconverted try by NoVa

Period #2

-- Min 12-05 Try by Rebecca BRAFMAN

-- Min 14-05 Conversion by Maura WEIKMAN

-- Min 19-05 Try by Rebecca BRAFMAN

-- Min 21-05 Conversion by Maura WEIKMAN

-- Min 26-05 Unconverted try by Zania CAMPOS

Period #3

-- Min 31-05 Unconverted try by Stephanie PADDOCK

-- Min 36-05 Unconverted try by Maura WEIKMAN

-- Min 41-05 Try by Heather VanDerHOOP

-- Min 43-05 Conversion by Maura WEIKMAN