The girls varsity rugby team lost to the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional Warriors in their second game of the season at Skyline Park on Friday, April 5 31-12.
Junior Meredith Christ said that once the game started, the Lincoln-Sudbury Warriors came out strong, scoring a try (worth five points) and a conversion kick (worth two points) within the first five minutes to bring the score to 7-0.
“They had some good plays right away. We were still warming up. Their nine went and scored at the try-zone, it was quick,” Christ said.
The Warriors responded swiftly after gaining possession, with senior Addy Anyaosah charging through the try line and touching the ball to the ground to put the first five points on the board for the Warriors, with Christ converting the kick to add two more. The speedy response from the Warriors tied the game at 7-7.
However, junior and captain Cathie Merlis said the Lincoln-Sudbury Warriors had a chip on their shoulder entering this game. They weren’t going to let up quickly due to last year’s encounter with the Warriors.
“We beat them in the semi-final for the state championship last year, so they were coming back for revenge,” Merlis said.
The Lincoln-Sudbury Warriors continued to be aggressive, scoring their second try of the game but missing the kick, putting them up 12-7.
With minutes left in the first half, Merlis scored a try. However, the Warriors failed to convert the kick, leaving the teams tied at 12 a piece going into the second half.
The Warriors had sustained many injuries throughout the first half. According to Christ, the team struggled to adjust during the second half.
“Halftime started, and we just sort of lost it… a lot of people got hurt, a lot of the starters got hurt, and they scored. They just had a lot of momentum,” Christ said.
The Lincoln-Sudbury Warriors scored two early tries, increasing their lead to 12-26. However, the Warriors defense did not allow any points to be scored in the latter part of the second half. This, paired with the Warriors’ offensive struggles, effectively shut them out of winning the game.
The Lincoln-Sudbury Warriors scored one more try in the last seconds of the game but missed the kick, resulting in a final score of 31-12.
Junior Camille Fisher said the windy conditions and numerous injuries resulted in a hard-fought game for the Warriors.
“We played hard, and a lot of players played their hearts out,” Fisher said. “We had a lot of people injured.”
Reflecting on the game, Merlis said there are a few things to improve before upcoming games.
“I think we’re definitely going to work on ball security, we had a lot of turnovers that could have been prevented. And also just working on cleaning up our system,” Merlis said.
Fisher said despite the loss, the Warriors played a hard-fought game, and the score wasn’t an accurate reflection of the game.
“At the end of the day, I really don’t think that the score is a good representation of the talent on the field, because I feel like we played really well,” Fisher said.
