In the final match of the Reunion Weekend celebrating the 50th anniversary of Fairfield University Rugby this past Saturday, the ladies notched a significant win against the visiting Hofstra team. With a vast number of Fairfield alumni in attendance, this Fairfield team did not upset and gave pride to the longest lasting club in Fairfield history.
After watching the men’s rugby team tie Marist College at a score of 17-17, the women put on quite a performance for the spectators. After an even-paced first half, the ladies emerged in the second period and enjoyed themselves a victory of 37-17. By doing so, they showed excellent chemistry and made the Fairfield alumni very proud to see the rugby team, for which they once played, find continued success.
The Lady Red Ruggers had an exciting day planned out before their game even happened. The morning of Saturday, Oct. 5, they met around 500 Fairfield alumni who previously played rugby over their years as students. These people played in a few alumni games planned out for both the men and women. At 11:30 a.m., the ladies had the chance to meet some alumni at the official Anniversary Ceremony, such as Dr. Kurt Schlichting ’70 and Bill Connolly Jr. ’69.
Before the Lady Red Ruggers’ game started, there was a massive amount of excitement and euphoria surrounding Lt. Hans Grauert Memorial Field. The chant held before the game by the women was very exhilarating and helped them succeed early on in this contest. Just two minutes into the first half, the ladies scored on a try to give them a 5-0 lead.
In the preceding minutes of the half, consistent defense was shown by both teams. Shortly after the first try for Fairfield, they found themselves near scoring again. However, tenacious defense from the Hofstra team denied them any points. Luckily, the Lady Red Ruggers were able to capitalize on one of these drives and score on another try to extend their lead to 10-0. From this point on to the end of the first half, things seemed a bit disorderly for the ladies.
Just two minutes after the last try by Fairfield, Hofstra scored on a very strong offensive drive to change to score to 10-5, seeing them being down by just one score. Nearing the end of the first half, the Hofstra girls found themselves scoring on another try and nailed the conversion kick to gain the lead at a score of 12-10. Both of these scores from Hofstra showed great integrity from its offense.
Before the first half ended, the Lady Red Ruggers scored on a try of their own to get the lead back. From this point on, the offense seemed unstoppable for Fairfield. The ladies were able to score another 22 points throughout the game while Hofstra could only garner up one try. By scoring on another five tries and getting a conversion kick, the ladies soared throughout the second half of this contest as they won at a score of 37-17 and saw their record improve to 2-2 on the season.
Winning a significant game like this was very important for Fairfield’s playoff hopes considering that they are now the fourth team in the Southern Division. Hofstra, a school which is in the same division as Fairfield, has now fallen from that fourth spot as its record drops to 1-3. If the Lady Red Ruggers can stay in this place for the remainder of the season, they will advance to the playoffs and play the number one team in their division. Currently, that is Stony Brook University. That would pose a very tough matchup for the Lady Red Ruggers who got shutout by Stony Brook at a score of 51-0 just last week on Sept. 29.
The next test for Fairfield University Women’s Rugby will come at Molloy College. This is another school that is in the Southern Division with Fairfield and presents itself as a threat to the school’s playoff hopes. However, the morale the Lady Red Ruggers now possess after an exhilarating win against Hofstra shall give them a huge confidence boost for the rest of the season and hopefully the postseason as well.
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