| Division 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Versus | Result |
| 15-Sep | Home Brockport | Win: Geneseo 56, Brockport 0 |
| 22-Sep | Home Syracuse | Win: Geneseo 26, Syracuse 5 |
| 29-Sep | at Fredonia | Loss: Fredonia 12, Geneseo 5 |
| 6-Oct | Home St. Bonaventure | Win: Geneseo 18, St. Bonaventure 7 |
| 14-Oct SUNDAY | Home UB | Loss: UB 22, Geneseo 5 |
| 20-Oct | Home Ithaca | Win: Geneseo 60, Ithaca 7 |
| 27-Oct | at Buff State | Win: Geneseo 27, Buffalo State 0 |
| Division 3 | ||
| Date | Versus | Result |
| 15-Sep | Home William Smith | Win: Geneseo 15, William Smith 10 |
| 22-Sep | Home Canisius | Win: Geneseo 36, Canisius 12 |
| 29-Sep | Home Rochester | Win: Geneseo 17, University of Rochester 13 |
| 6-Oct | at Fisher | Loss: Fisher 14, Geneseo 0 |
| 13-Oct | at Niagara | Win: Geneseo 15, Niagara 5 |
It was Halloween Saturday. The Banshees were wearing orange. Next to the field were the remains of an abandoned insane asylum.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Nope, Geneseo rugby. But while no blood sucking was on the offing (not counting the odd bite at the bottom of a ruck), the life of a playoff run was in jeopardy.
Sealing the deal is never easy. Doing it against a division rival known for its determined rugby style is harder. Doing it in constant rain is harder still.
(Seriously, Buffalo State, get a roof! We have never played there in anything but horrible weather.)
So the business of the day was simplicity and discipline. Minimize the drops, shut down the opposition’s running lanes. Make tackles, make runs. Easy, right? Like I said, it’s never easy against Buffalo State.
And it wasn’t on this day. For the first 20 minutes, Geneseo couldn’t shake the road out of their legs, couldn’t shake the wind and rain out of their heads, and couldn’t shake the contagion of the Banshee’s sloppiness out of their hands. The result was a lot of scrums, a lot of penalties, a lot of knock-ons and a lot of mud. That said, the question of the match wasn’t what threat the Banshees posed, but rather what was tamping the Warthogs’s fire? The ungenerous answer is that, as versus Fredonia, Geneseo was playing down to the level of the competition. The more positive observation was that Geneseo was controlling large portions of play, with the dominance of their forwards counteracting the weather-related mishaps among the backs. And the perspective that gives credit where credit is due is that the Buffalo State fullback was a tackling machine. She was personally responsible for stopping at least 7 tries on the day.
But tries there were, beginning in the 20th minute, when Geneseo’s persistence and work rate finally paid off, a ruck inside the Buffalo State quarter leading through quick hands to the inside center, Becca Kohlman, who continued her fine season with reliable hard running, and a fine inside center’s try, splitting the defense, shrugging off tacklers and placing down between the posts. Easy conversion, not-too-easy 7-0 lead.
Geneseo continued its dominance directly from the kickoff, and when Buffalo State overcommitted their defense in the line, flyhalf Liz Felix grub kicked up the weakside sideline, recovering the ball and scoring her maiden tally of the season, to the delight of her parents on the touchline.
Bad weather and Geneseo control were the order of the day, but no tries through a long stretch of fumbles by both sides and crushing tackles by the Banshee fullback. There was almost a Warthog breakthrough in the 38th minute, when Buffalo State dropped the ball under pressure on their own goal line, but Hannah Wyland was interfered with (unintentionally it must be said, the poor player lying damaged on the floor for a long time after) in her charge for the ball, and the Banshees escaped.
The final try of the half finally did come to Geneseo just at 40 minutes. A fine strike by winger Jorden Strapp almost saw her score, and Hannah picked and dotted. It will be Hannah’s name in the stat book, but Jorden was rightfully given full credit by her teammates.
So the win was looking comfortable at the half, even if the weather wasn’t, but ensuring the pole position for a playoff spot required a bonus point, for which Geneseo was a try shy.
The second half was the same as the first, except that Geneseo was now running into the wind, which limited kicking opportunities. As a result, Buffalo State’s defense was able to maintain its aggression with less chance of being kicked past. Kicks would start on target and then be pushed wayward, whether by the weather or by the ghosts of lunatics past is unclear, but the result was a stalemate of trench rugby.
The good thing about trench rugby is that possession is more easily kept, and this was the case for Geneseo, who were able to recycle through multiple phases, using “scrummy in” plunges, switches, charges and any number of piercing runs.
The bad thing about trench rugby is that it gains ground slowly, and makes tries rare.
Rare, but not nonexistent. Geneseo’s broke through at last in the 50th minute, when Rosie Kolb eschewed the messiness of passing and took the “direct” route from midfield to the sideline, to the corner of the try zone. A coach’s nightmare of sideways running turned sweet bonus point dream.
The coup de grace of the day was the final try, scored through dogged patience at the Buffalo line, finishing off a series of plunge plays with a plunge try. The ghost of tries left unscored was expunged.
It was forwards’ weather, and it was a forward’s game, so it was fitting that the final score was a forward’s try. Eight forwards scored that one. For the pedants among you, Hannah was the player ascribed the five points. But it was a team try.
And it was a team win to cap a team record of 5 wins, 2 losses, 195 points for, 53 points against, 34 tries for, 8 tries against.
And, if the union is to believed, playoffs in the wind. But please not in the rain. (Get a roof, Buffalo State!)
Meanwhile, wail away, you Banshees, the Warthogs are singing Happy Halloween!
Final Score: Geneseo 27, Buffalo State 0
Geneseo MVP: Lock Pam Wilson. Both locks, in truth, were truly the engine room of this victory, and now Pam has upped her game from D3 MVP form to D2 MVP form. A fine cap to a fine season.
Geneseo hit of the game: Were she a Warthog, the award would have to go to the Buff State fullback for the series of textbook and crunching tackles she made to avoid numerous tries. But she’s not a Warthog, so the hit goes to Hannah in the second half when she leveled a Buffalo State halfback for the umpteenth time, leading to protests of exasperation by said Banshee, followed by an acknowledgement by that same halfback that the hit was in fact clean. The poor halfback pairing was helpless against the marauding attentions of Hannah and scrumhalf Annie Willis.
Honorable mention goes to Rozina Portelli in the B-side match, who went in shoulder-to-shoulder with an opponent for a bouncing ball, and bounced the opponent.
After a strong start, with convincing wins over Brockport and Syracuse, Geneseo’s season was teetering on the edge of its 3-and-2 record. A disappointing loss at Fredonia was counter balanced by a strong win against St. Bonaventure, but then the UB loss, while exciting and validating, was still a loss. Geneseo’s winning season was in jeopardy, and so was any hope of finishing ahead of Fredonia in what may be a chase for a spot in the national tournament qualifying rounds.*
Ithaca College, meanwhile, came to Mendon looking to right its own season, hoping to improve a 2-and-3 record to even-up. Either team could walk away from the pitch at 3-and-3, and either could walk away with their season effectively undone.
So on Senior Day, the Warthogs came determined to give their upperclasspeople the positive sendoff the elder hogs deserved.
Proof of their intent was quick to materialize, the first try coming by the hand of scrum half Annie Willis, following a lineout. Liz Felix converted to give Geneseo a 7-0 opening.
Just three minutes later, the try tally was doubled by Rosie Kolb, who broke a pair of tackles to finish off a practice-makes-perfect loop by Liz Felix and Becca Kohlman from the back of a scrum following an Ithaca knock-on.
Ithaca couldn’t fight their way out of their own defensive quarter, inexplicably unable to safely place the ball after being tackled, and in receiving a sin binning for repeated penalty offenses, they surrendered a twelth-minute penalty try.
The rout was now immanent, as was the bonus point try Geneseo was now chasing, a bonus point they would need in a playoff chase with Fredonia. That fourth try came in the 20th minute, scored by prop Rachael Burganowski.
Hannah Wyland next joined the scoring crew, and the half was capped by Rosie’s second try. Well, Rosie put the ball down in goal, but this was a team try. The backs moved the ball wide and rucked, the forwards formed a back line and crashed the ball forward, then kept the ball moving forward off the back of the ruck and mauled the ball farther goalward, until finally the ball was moved wide again, and Rosie finished the multi-phase move. Just like it was worked out on the training ground.
Which pretty much sums up the first half for Geneseo. Needing a strong opening, and needing four tries, they duly went out and practiced what they had learned, and they received their just reward. 38-0 after 40 minutes.
The second half would have to be an anti-climax, and it was. Never fear, there were more tries for the fans and players to enjoy, four of them. The first try was notched in the 60th minute by Vicki Baum, subbing in on the wing. The next came in minute 80 from fellow substitute Steph Kingsbury, playing at loosehead prop. Hannah completed her pair in minute 86, and First Year Alex Virga, subbing in at fullback, finished the scoring with a corner placement in the 88th minute. But the foot was off the gas pedal, and it showed, and in minute 57 Ithaca avoided the shutout with a turnover and breakaway try.
But a big win is a big win is a big, and a season saved is a season saved is a season saved. The only real tarnish on the match, in the end, was a head knock for starting loosehead prop Laura Schimpf that took her off the pitch, perhaps for the rest of the season. In the meantime, Geneseo were 60-7 victors, finished the day in second in the table to Buffalo (following a Fredonia loss to St. Bonaventure), is the top D2 team in the conference and can rightfully claim a post season spot should they overcome Buffalo State in their final game.
It’s all to play for.
Final Score: Geneseo 60, Ithaca College 7.
Geneseo MVP: Scrum half Annie Willis. When a forward pack has such a successful day, it is often the result of expert marshaling by the number 9. Such was the case on this day. And a try to boot!
Geneseo Hit of the Day: The first scrum engage, won convincingly by Geneseo’s pack. It set the tone of the match early on, and from then till halftime, Ithaca’s forwards were constantly back on their heels.
*USA Rugby has yet to announce the structure of the post season, but word has been passed down that the top D2 team in the Empire Conference would qualify for the post season, and UB would apply for a D1 at-large bid. Watch this space for developments.
Rugby coaches love to talk about the love of the game. “It’s not the score, it’s how you play that game.” To which the usual (accurate) response is, “How much did you lose by?” It’s a consolation.
So what do you tell a team that plays so well that a coach can only grin? Does the coach say to the player, “Nice consolation?” If so, every player on the pitch for Geneseo against the University of Buffalo deserves a rousing, “Great consolation!” Altogether now: great consolation! Because it was a great match and Geneseo played that well.
It’s a great excuse that UB is a Division 1-level program at a Division 1-sized school, with a Division 1-sized player pool and a Division 1-level coach in Red Huber and true Division-1 level players on their team—especially their Number 14 on the wing. But Geneseo needs no excuse.
It’s a great underdog story that Geneseo held Buffalo out of the try zone until the 22nd minute, but the Warthogs weren’t playing like underdogs. Underdogs hold on and have occasional flashes of bright play that maintain their competitive fire. Geneseo’s competitive fire was burning brightly throughout and needed no flashes. They were controlling play as much as the highly touted visitors, winning scrums, winning lineouts, defensively pressuring the Buffalo backline and creating turnovers. They were rolling through phases, recycling ball and pushing UB to the breaking point. Down 7-0 in the final minutes of the first half, they turned the screws on Buffalo and camped inside the Buffalo’s 22. But their Achilles heal all season stung them again: their impatience on their opponents’ goalline resulting in turnovers inside the 5 meter line, and Buffalo escaped to halftime with their single-try lead intact. True, Geneseo had to scramble to chase down a breakaway when Buffalo slipped through the post defense left open by an overly aggressive Geneseo ruck defense, and true, it was a double placement penalty at the line by the tackled ball carrier that denied Buffalo the try, but also true is that a try by Buffalo at that juncture would have been against the run of play. Underdogs do not control the run of play.
Play was again even at the start of the second half, with the majority of the action between the 22s. This was the kind of match rugby players and rugby fans dream of, with aggressive running, accurate passing, sure tackling, confident rucking, determined scrumming.
UB scored their second try in the 56th minute. It came unfortunately as the result of an erroneous penalty call, when the referee adjudged Hannah Wyland to be offside at the side of a maul into which she was clearly legally bound, but his view from the blind side of the maul told him her play was illegal. Buffalo punched in from the penalty, and it was 14-0.
This should have been the signal for the Warthogs to tell themselves, “We had a good run, but we never expected to win anyway.” The Warthogs didn’t hear the signal, because, one assumes, they did expect to win. To punctuate the point, substitute prop Kerri Czurda, a star on the D3 side moved up at the end of the D3 season, continued her hard-running ways and snatched a try for the home side, on a plunge from a ruck inside the 5 meter line. That’s right, Geneseo converted a goal line ruck into a try. And the bonus for Geneseo was that this was the first try scored against UB this year.
But a bonus is only a percentage of the true value, and the true value of this match was that Geneseo were well and truly in it, as contenders, not pretenders. Fly half Liz Felix had the backline slicing through the UB defense at regular intervals, the UB cover defense scrambling to keep the Warthogs from scoring. The wind now became a factor, as did UB’s kicking. Geneseo, against the wind, would gain the UB defensive quarter only for UB to gain the ball and kick the ball downfield. One clearing penalty from inside the 22 reached past the halfway line. Professionals dream of kicks like that, so due credit to UB’s kicker for that one.
So the pressure came, and the kicks relieved the pressure, and at last it was a different kick that further relieved the visitors. In the 72nd minute, they kicked a 3-pointer for a 17-5 lead. This didn’t really harm Geneseo, who would have needed 2 tries anyway, but for all of you keeping track of consolations, it was quite the compliment that Buffalo deemed the sure points necessary and chose not to attempt to up their try count.
And well they may have been necessary, as Geneseo, unbowed, pushed on again, until the UB’s clincher came in minute 77.
It was a try worthy of the match, a sweeping back move capped by the insertion of the weakside wing—their star number 14 joining from across the field, and dashing unmarked through the line to score. It was a mirror of UB’s first try, also a weak-side wing unmarked in the backs.
The final score, then, was Buffalo 22, Geneseo 5.
On a higher level, though, the score was rugby 1, anything else you could want to do during those 2 hours, nil.
And Geneseo pride 10, Geneseo’s need for consolation a big duck’s egg.
Geneseo MVP: Liz Felix, who engineered a sterling day for the backline that deserved more tries as it outplayed, but ultimately couldn’t break, the UB backs.
Geneseo Hit of the Match: the cover tackle, by a number of backs, at the goal line to deny the UB breakaway a try. For one player to run down a breakaway is laudable. For three to do so says a lot about a team’s commitment and pride.
The Geneseo D3 women were on a mission in Niagara Falls, that was clear from the beginning. After the loss to St. John Fisher during fall break, they had their squad back together, and they were determined to prove that a full strength meant full power. And in the birthplace of hydroelectric power, the Warthogs were out to show a little spark and light up the scoreboard.
The plan was to draw the defense up with a backline running serial switches, and the plan worked. Returning number 10 Katie Cardinal, running with power, moved the defense sideways, and centres Vicki Baum and Jess Kim sliced back on the defenders’ inside shoulders, gaining ground with every carry. This forced the outside backs to fill in the line, and when they did, Katie kicked. And when Katie kicked, Rozina ran. Niagara were in fits, and it was in minute 12 that Rozina broke the Geneseo duck, chasing down a kick, claiming the ball, and fighting off would-be tacklers to gain the try line. 5-0 Warthogs.
The plan continued, and Niagara’s scrambling continued, with Geneseo alternately slicing through or kicking over or simply overrunning Niagara, despite Katie’s retirement due to her tender ankle, to the point that in the 27th minute, Niagara’s desperate attempts to slow the ball at the tackle resulted in a yellow card. But contrary to expectations, the loss of the extra player steeled Niagara’s resolve and this steel seemed to stall Geneseo’s forwards. But the switches kept slicing, and the kicks kept flying, and the second try eventually came, just before Niagara’s sin-binned player regained the pitch, coming in the way of a pick and charge by Kerri Czurda. 10-0.
It was then forward hands that setup a second backs try early in the second half, in the third minute. There was a switch. There was a ruck. There was a forward line set up, and there were fine passes through the hands and a devastating run by lock Stephanie Kingsbury. Her pop pass to an uncovered wing Tushara Surapaneni, her raced to place the ball in the Niagara try zone.
The story was now whether Geneseo could gain a fourth try, and thus the bonus point that would keep them in the playoff hunt, but the game seemed to settle into a tug of war between the 22s. Niagara gave itself life with a 27th-minute try, well deserved after a 40-yard sequence of rucks and determined runs, but the match really was not in the balance, as it was Geneseo who looked most likely to score in the final moments, placing itself firmly inside Niagara’s zone in the final 10 minutes. Vicki Baum at flyhalf had the defense in knots, with switches and dummy switches keeping the defense unbalanced, and were it not for a just-missed pass off of Rozina’s fingertips and a questionable declaration of a forward pass a few minutes later, then Geneseo would have had its fourth try, and thus its bonus point.
But time ran out on Geneseo’s attack, and, as a result, on Geneseo’s realistic chance at a playoff birth.
But while they couldn’t muster a fourth try, the D3 Warthogs did notch a fourth win, a record for the young D3 program, and they will end the season tied in wins with eventual playoff sides St. John Fisher and the University of Rochester, the latter of whom they beat. So for the second week in a row, disappointment had to be tempered by pride.
In fact, let’s toss that disappointment into the Niagara River and let it tumble down the falls.
Niagara is a place of power generation, and this generation of Warthogs have demonstrated their power.
Final Score: Win Geneseo 15, Niagara University 5.
Geneseo MVP: Number 8 Brynne Sturge, whose aggressive defense out of channels meant she spent more time in the Niagara backfield than the ball did.
Unfortunate scheduling meant that the D3 Warthogs were traveling to league-leading St. John Fisher during their fall break, resulting in a depleted squad. Missing were lock forwards Keely Odell, Pam Wilson (who was needed by the D2 squad, against Fredonia) and Amanda Spence, while First Year lock Marissa Buyck was called into the back line. In the back line, Katie Cardinal was still forced out by an ankle injury and the five other preferred back players, First Years Alex Virga, Alexis O’Hara, Tushara Surapaneni (also in Fredonia with D2) and Thor Thornsen and second year sensation Rozina Portelli were also unavailable. Also missing were try scoring flanker Kayla Thomson and dominant tighthead prop Jenna Watson. So, a recipe for disaster, yes?
No.
With a side starting to scrum halfs, one at wing, with a side starting a First Year hooker at fullback, with a side starting a First Year lock at inside centre, a First Year flanker at lock, and a First Year prop at, confusingly, prop, Geneseo should have won the match.
No lie.
The match was controlled, on the most part, by Geneseo’s pack. Led by veteran prop Kerri Czurda, senior hooker Annie Schleining, multi-talented lock Stephanie Kingsbury and back row forwards Brynne Sturge, Kaitlyn Colle and Sam Yelle, the forwards tackled, rucked, poached, rumbled and mauled with confidence and gusto.
Meanwhile, stand-in stand-off Vicki Baum did a masterful job of mixing crashes, crosses, skips and kicks to keep the Fisher defense guessing and reacting, and making cover tackle after cover tackle. And to Fisher’s credit, those cover tackles were the difference in the match. Time and again, Geneseo would camp in Fisher’s 22, time and again, Fisher tacklers would prevent the final put-down. A weak side run off the base of a scrum? Sorry, said the Fisher flanker, wing and number eight. A slicing run up the middle to split the centres? Fine, but the fullback ensured the touchdown never came. In the second half, a triad of rucks were stuffed, and the attempt to move the ball wide was stymied.
As is often the case, when a team is unable to capitalize on its opportunities, those opportunities are turned around by a turnover and a counter attack. Twice Fisher proved the truth of the axiom, and twice they converted.
The result? A disappointing loss.
That’s right, a disappointing loss. With more than half of the squad away or hurt, with multiple patches, fill-ins and positional mismatches, with no chance on paper of being even in this match, this loss was a disappointment.
And never has a team been more proudly represented by a disappointing result
Final score: St. John Fisher 14, Geneseo 0.
Geneseo MVP: Annie Schleining. Field Captain, senior leader, role model.
Hit of the Week: Crystal Voak, making a brilliant cover tackle from fullback, on the Fisher sideline in the second half; despite being a hooker who hated fullback she bravely hunted down any attacker who broke through the line. Honorable mention for First Year and first-time starter Jeanne Magnetti’s third tackle, because there were those who never believed she make her first, and she proved them wrong time and time again.
In 1492, Columbus was on the verge of failure. The gods of the discovery, it seemed, had led him astray. His supplies were low, his crew were mutinous, and the ocean, it appeared was endless. A storm, a rogue wave, a flash of disease would end his quest for spice, fortune, fame.
The first week of October, the lady Warthogs could empathize. There were injuries to starting fullback Victoria Dosso and starting tighthead prop Allie Cropsey, commitments stealing senior flanker Jen Kyne and a family emergency calling away wing Joannie Drake. There was a disappointing loss at Fredonia that shook the team’s confidence. And, thank you Señor Columbo, there was the Columbus Day fall break reducing the Geneseo crew to a skeleton of its usual robust self, to the point that on one wing Geneseo was starting a First Year lock forward, Marissa Buyck.
This was a time when squad depth was critical, when discipline was invaluable, when determination was irreplaceable. Luckily, Geneseo’s supplies, while depleted, were certainly not yet empty.
Which was good, because the sails St. Bonaventure, were on the horizon, and theirs was the flag of ambition. Newly promoted and itching to prove they belonged up with the big girls, Bonas had already capsized former D1 schools Syracuse and Brockport, as had Geneseo. So, all things being equal, this was an even matchup.
Bonaventure brought its aggressive defense, angry running and field-spreading offense. Geneseo brought its sturdy forward possession play and expansive backline tactics. The matchup seemed even again. So what would be the difference in the match?
The quick answer, looking at the scoresheet, would be Rosie Kolb, Rosie Kolb and Rosie Kolb, because Geneseo’s three tries were dotted down by Rosie, Rosie, and Rosie. But the truth was much more complex than one player repeated three times, because all three tries were the work of differing attacks and multiple attackers.
Try one came from a gradual build-up, working through the numerous rounds of recycling to claim the center of the playing space and divide the aggressive defensive line. Coming up too quickly for its phase-depleted numbers, the Bonaventure line was betrayed by the inevitable gap, which Rosie exploited.
It was the aggression of the Bona backs, in fact, that was the key to Geneseo’s success, as captain flyhalf Liz Felix caught their fullback and wings standing shallow and capitalized by kicking over their heads.
Try number two was a direct result of such a kick. Despite a growing head wind, Liz spied the space behind the defensive wall and slotted a perfectly weighted and angled ball behind the wing, inside the Bona 22, and 5 meters from the sideline. The Geneseo backs pounced on the panicked Bona fullback, and the result of the melee was Rosie’s and Geneseo’s second try.
Geneseo’s pack, meanwhile, was repelling Bonaventure’s roadsides off the sides of ruck, and when Bonaventure did move the ball wide, Geneseo took a page from Bonaventure’s defensive book and stifled the ball before it could pass midfield. Meanwhile, offensively, the Geneseo forwards were able to generate phases much better than they had against Fredonia, although Bonaventure’s stubbornness kept the game from turning to a rout.
The wind was picking up by the end of the half, and lineouts were becoming impossible. Geneseo should have gained a try from one, however, as they brought the ball down and drove the Bonaventure line. Bonaventure was forced to bring the maul down, which should have been a penalty try, but the referee thought otherwise, declaring a collapsed maul and a Bonaventure scrum.
The second half, which should have favored Geneseo with the prevailing breeze at their back, was instead dominated by a rising crosswind that made accurate kicking impossible and expansive back play a gamble. Pass towards one sideline and you were passing into a wall of air that pushed the ball down to the receiver’s feet. Pass towards the other sideline, and the ball would sail high and long.
These conditions favored a newly charged Bonaventure side in the second half. Just 4 minutes in, they grabbed a try back, and it was game on. Geneseo, unable to use its sophisticated back game in the face of an aggressive defense and an uncooperative wind storm, relied on kicking to advance the ball and stout defense to keep the ball in the Bonaventure end. The result was a quirky teeter-totter game, in which the ball would fly into the Bonaventure end, Bonaventure would scramble to recover, the ball would be killed by the defense or the wind, and Bonaventure would begin tacking the ball back up the field. While Geneseo was constantly threatening to score, it was Bonaventure who were threatening to take the match over, their style better suited to the unpredictable meteorology.
Until finally Geneseo did score, in minute 57. Once again, a kick over the defense led to a Bonaventure turnover inside its last quarter, and Geneseo’s forwards and backs again combined to set up Rosie’s third try.
Still Bonaventure attacked in tides, and it seemed their style might eventually prevail. Geneseo tackled stoutly but the constant inability to build on their lead seemed to drain them along with Bonaventures surges. Geneseo’s hull was creaking, but the game remained staunchly outside Geneseo’s defensive quarter. And just when it seem the cracks would expand and Bonaventure would flood in and swamp Geneseo’s hold, the lightest of counterprevailing currents righted the tilting Geneseo ship, in the form of a penalty given up by Bonaventure in the middle of the field, inside the 22. Field captain Hannah Wyland called for the attempt at goal, the referee indicated the posts and Liz Felix calmly slotted the 3 pointer.
And suddenly the hurricane abated. Oh, the seas were still stormy, no doubt, Bonaventure had more power than wilt completely, but the anger of the waves was now a surf against the shore, noisy, impressive even, but ultimately destined to subside. Even a sin bin for Hannah in the final five minutes couldn’t capsize the ship.
So the match and, perhaps, the season was rescued from the depths, and Davy Jones’ locker would have to wait for at least one more week for the Geneseo crew.
An 18-7 victory, a 3-1 record, and new seas to sail. On to Buffalo, and to who knows what riches.
Final Score: Geneseo 18, St. Bonaventure 7.
Hit of the week: Marissa taking down a Bonaventure wing who was used to being the big girl on the sidelines. Confront this girl out on the on the edge of the world at your peril!
The Geneseo D3 side played itself into new territory: three wins. By doing so, they put to bed forever the idea that they are not a “real” team, but are rather a subsidiary of the “real” organization. Well, this subsidiary is now 3-0, thank you very much, and looking every bit the part.
This week it was the University of Rochester’s turn to underestimate the D3 Ladies. Perhaps they were less prone to such underestimation, having played against many of the current D3 Warthogs in the spring Rochester 7s tournament on the same Mendon Ponds field that is the Geneseo home pitch, and of which Geneseo swept the first two spots. Nevertheless it was a confident Rochester squad that made the hop from the city to Mendon. They had just made the drop from D2, but were fully capable of playing at the D2, but they were never dominated at the higher level, and so considered themselves capable of winning any match at D3. Their close association with the Rochester Renegades women’s club, and the coaching they received from that clubs members ensured they would be a tough opponent.
Both sides were able to establish their style of play from the outset. Rochester’s was a possession game of crashing forwards and aggressive backs, low on sophistication, high on teamwork and discipline. Geneseo’s was a more fluid game, as is the Warthogs’ signature, with rapid ball movement in the backs and a pack that enjoyed picking the ball and moving forward. It was an enjoyable clash that was aesthetically pleasing to the eye and viscerally invigorating.
It was Geneseo who opened the scoring with an open run by outside center Jess Kim. It should be noted that this was a new backline for the hosts, with starting flyhalf Katie Cardinal sidelined by the previous week’s ankle injury. Vicki Baum reprised her role at standoff, joined by First Year Thor at inside centre. After her awakening the previous week, Rozina Portelli was champing for more running and displayed her skills once again.
The forwards, meanwhile, led by senior Annie Schleining, continuously gave the backs a platform from which to run, despite a concussion sustained by Keely Odell. Geneseo was surprisingly dominant in the scrum, but struggled at the lineout. So it was the backs who were the difference in the first half, which Geneseo finished leading, 5-0.
Geneseo added a try by Annie Scheining and another by First Year flanker Kayla Thomson (Ooh-ah! Shoot that boot!), which Annie converted, but Rochester scored two of their own, and then added a penalty goal to make the score 17-13 deep into the match. Rochester piled on the pressure at the end, but Geneseo was able to hold on for a record third win for D3.
Final score Geneseo 17, UofR 13.
Geneseo MVP: Rozina Portelli, whose countless strong runs nullified any attacking flair Rochester could muster. She didn’t score any points but she gained valuable ground from deep every time she carried the ball, to keep the defense on its heels and the opposition in their own territory.
Everyone was hoping for better.
A match against Fredonia is never an easy thing for Geneseo. And neither is a match against Geneseo an easy thing for Fredonia. That is why both teams look forward to this match with such relish. It is a rivalry that promises a great match.
This match did not live up to that promise. It had the intensity both sides promised. It had the desire to play good, hard, clean rugby that both sides bring to every match they play. What it didn’t have was attractive rugby.
Both sides seemed intent on handing the ball to each other. Geneseo would come slowly into a ruck and the isolated ball carrier would lose possession. Fredonia would throw the ball to Geneseo’s jumper in the lineout. Kicks would go directly to the opposition’s fullback. Ball placements would be poached. Neither side could find a rhythm because neither side could assert consistent possession.
It was a wash, and in a wash it is either a great effort by a single player or an error by another player that will win, or lose the match. Both teams had many players put up their hands to be the hero, but unfortunately an even number countered the heroism with errors. Dropped balls and shoulder high tackles meant lots of scrums and lots of mauls and little excitement in the first half.
That said, both sides had a highlight in the first half, but per standard in the half, they cancelled each other out. Geneseo had the one span of concentrated possession in which they were able to sustain pressure inside Fredonia’s defensive quarter. But Fredonia was able to stay strong and resist the onslaught. Predictably, it was a series of errors which denied the visitors the try. First, a dominant Geneseo pack declined to take the direct route to the goal line when they clearly had the defense on its heels. Next, in forcing the ball wide, the Geneseo back line passed the ball behind its runners, rather than hitting them in stride. A strong recovering run by Becca Kohlman was then nullified by the most egregious error of the match, when the referee, out of position, failed to reward the put down by the inside center.
The second half was more of the same as in the first, but with a definite pattern forming: Geneseo would gain ground with multiple recycles of the ball, Fredonia would steal possession (normally straight out of the runner’s hand), and then the ball would go into touch. Geneseo’s jumper , Tessa Carberry would then, generally, win possession, and the cycle would start again. There would be variations in the ground gained by Fredonia after the turnover, or the turnover would come as a result of a dropped pass as the Geneseo forced the ball wide towards a waiting wide defense, but the basic pattern of Geneseo control through multiple phases followed by a careless giveaway to, or skillful takeaway by (to give the hosts credit), Fredonia.
Fredonia was hanging around in a game Geneseo should put away, waiting for a break, and midway through the second half, they got it. A Geneseo misplay of a Fredonia kick led to a Fredonia 5 meter scrum, from which the hosts scored an opportunistic try as their number 8 carried into the try zone untouched, practically unnoticed in what was an embarrassing nap taken by the travelling side.
Remarkably, this sparked Geneseo into new life, and the Warthogs began to hit harder and force more turnovers on defense, and to maintain cleaner possession on offense, to the point of scoring their own try after an impressive surge of phase rugby that was clinically finished off by Hannah Wyland.
But then the match reverted to form, and both sides did their best to lose the contest. It was Geneseo who succeeded best, giving up a second try after another turnover and then Fredonia’s best sequence of phase play leading to a wide ball that was placed for a five-point Fredonia lead, 12-7.
Geneseo, again true to form, upped its game after giving up a score, but the clock ran out before they could convert control into an equalizer.
So Geneseo claimed the loss, its first of the year, and Fredonia was forced to settle for bragging rights for another year. In point standings, Fredonia took the 4 for victory, and Geneseo claimed would could turn out to be a valuable losing bonus point, for finishing within 7.
Final Score: Fredonia 12, Geneseo 7.
Geneseo MVP: Hannah Wyland. She led the way and scored the try and almost carried her side to victory.
Hit of the Day: the hit we're still waiting for on the number-8-pickup that led to the opening try.
Rule number one of journalism is “Don’t bury the lead.” So we won’t bury the lead. 36-12. You can’t bury 36-12. Okay we did bury the lead, because the lead is that we buried Canisius, 36-12.
For much of the match, however, stories of Canisius’ burial were greatly exaggerated. It took a flurry of late tries to stretch the scoreline, but flurries of late tries are created by long minutes of hard work. And like any good story, this one had writes and rewrites.
Write one was a third minute try for First Year Alex Virga, putting the exclamation mark on an energetic start in her first start at fullback. Revision by Canisius came in the 12 minutes later, a declaration of game on. 13 minutes later, fellow back-three First Year Alexis O’Hara made it two first-game tries for two first-game players, the wing rushing around the Canisius back line to set up a date with the boot. Just two minutes later it was Rozina Portelli, the “veteran” of a whole year playing rugby, who joined the scoring chorus line. The entire back three wrote a trilogy of Geneseo first-half tries.
With all the backline scores being catalogued, you would think this was an open tale of free-flowing swashbuckling rugby, but this was not the case. In fact, the majority of play was dominated by tight fighting between the tight fives. Part of the tightness on Geneseo’s part came from necessity, as flyhalf Katie Cardinal turned an ankle and was forced to retire. Inside center Vicki Baum moved in to standoff, and the backs adjusted the plotline to possession-style running.
This thrust the forwards to where they belong: in front. And leading from the front was prop Kerri Czurda who carried in a score in minute 70. Fellow front rower Annie Schleining teamed with Kerri to keep the ball constantly moving forward, wearing Canisius down, until exhaustion forced her to the sidelines—she had substituted earlier in the day for the D2 side, and having left all she had on the field in the first match, somehow found more to give in the second. She was leadership personified. Her replacement, First Year Crystal Voak provided a welcome splash of energy.
High-energy contributions by Kaitlyn Colle and Kayla Thomson ensured that the backrow forwards progressed the narrative as backrow forwards should, and the engine room of locks Pam Wilson and Keely Odell made sure the plot never bogged down.
The result was a flurry of late tries, as exhausted Canisius could not longer keep up their side of the story, the climax of the day being second tries for Alexis and Rozina, the latter of whom ran with a new verve and physicality she had kept under wraps until now.
So the denouement is a big win, a big day for Rozina and Alexis, and a very well-earned MVP for Kerri, who never forgot that for a rugby story to progress, the ball must progress, and her teammates, and a win, would surely follow.
The lead? 36-12. The conclusion? 2-0.
Geneseo MVP: Kerri Czurda
Geneseo: Hit of the day: Rozina's two strong-arm ward-offs knocking two would-be tacklers aside en route to her second try. Nice final punctuation.
To stop a bully from bullying, the axiom says, you must stand up to the bully, you must hit the bully, and the bully will stop bullying you. Let’s see how that works out.
In the bully’s corner, let us present the Syracuse University women’s rugby club. A big school with a big reputation. A big rugby team with a big tradition. And just plain big girls.
Which is not to say they don’t have skills, but their style is that of the brawler, not the pugilist. They hit hard, they hit straight, they hit often. You either stand against them or you do not stand at all.
In our protagonists’ corner, the Lady Warthogs of Geneseo Women’s RFC. A small school with a big reputation. A small rugby team with a big tradition. Not so many just plain big girls.
Which is not to say they don’t have power, but their style is that of the boxer, not the insider puncher. Hit hard, then move, hit often and hit quickly, move quickly.
Two styles of conflict. Two styles of rugby. The team which could imprint its style on the other would be the team standing in the ring at the final bell. Power vs artfulness.
It was surprising, then, that Geneseo’s opening gambit came not by swift back movement, but by forward power. The initial sparring done, it was forward work that created the opening try, in the thirteenth minute, scored by tight head prop Allie Cropsey. The Liz Felix conversion notched the scorecard at 7-0 the hosts.
Often, though, the first hard punch elicits the hardest counterpunch. And a counterpunch SU provided, achieving quick vengeance for the Warthog-inflicted wound. Afer just three minutes, a counter attack by the Orange was built on a combination of strong rabbit punch runs coupled with deft uppercut passes, culminating in a five-point round to the visitors. The score remained 7-5 with the missed conversion, but it was definitely going to be a full 10 rounder. Another counter almost saw SU break through for another score, but this time Liz Felix’s cover tackle prevented the second swing from landing.
Geneseo’s next tally was more true to the team’s nature, coming from a back move run as though on the training ground. A fly half loop between Liz Felix and Becca Kohlman froze the inside defense, with Felix’s subsequent flick pass giving Rosie Kolb the space she needed to dart to the goal in minute 24. A second conversion from two meant a 12-5 lead, as the home side began to find its balance.
It was still the inside game that dominated the contest, however, and it was Geneseo’s forward pack that set a steady tempo. SU possessions were met by furious inside tackling, as the Warthogs continuously met the SU attempts to bludgeon the inside lines, striking the Orange underbelly on the Orange side of the gain line, and constantly badgering the ball carrier at the breakdown. It was blow and counter blow, blow and counter blow. This was no stage for cowards, and cowards there were none.
Finally Geneseo scored a knockdown with a series of rucks leading to a dive over the line by forward captain and openside flanker, Hannah Wyland. This conversion missed its mark, but after 33 minutes the hosts were comfortably ahead 19-5.
Did I say comfortably? Perhaps not comfortably at all, as Syracuse did anything and everything to physically knock all thoughts of comfort out of any Warthog mind, to the point that tight head prop Cropsey had to be replaced by Annie Schleining due to an injured shoulder in the 33rd minute. Annie took up hooking duties, moving Lulu Aulet to prop.
Fullback Annie “Pirate” Pyrak’s concussion took her off the field, also in the 33rd minute, her replacement being Katla “Thor” Thorsen, a First Year seeing her first ever D2 action. Replacing a Pirate with a Thor: now that’s rugby tough.
The match then settled into a slug fest, with Syracuse determined to bully itself back into the game, and Geneseo equally determined not to let that happen. Outside of the trenches, Syracuse’s combination of crash and slide defense was creaky but still able to parry the constant jabs and roundhouses thrown at it by the home corner. But one defensive crash proved one two many, and Becca slipped a deft blow past the overreaching back line, in the form of a perfectly weighted through kick. The ball was knocked on by Syracuse and after the resulting scrum, precise ball movement snapped the ball into the piercing control of Rosie Kolb, and just like that, the score was 26-5 following the successful conversion. Match decided.
Decided but not over. 10-rounds in rugby is 80 minute-pluss, and SU brought 85 minutes of fight. What they neglected to bring were 85 minutes of discipline, and a pair of dangerous tackles that the referee could not ignore resulted in a pair of yellow cards in injury time. So Syracuse ended the match down three tries and down two players. Not a pretty ending for them to what turned out to be a pretty convincing mauling.
The bully had been bullied and sent home. So for the record, the scorecard reads: bullying axiom one, bullying nil.
And Geneseo Lady Warthog D2, 2 and O.
Geneseo MVP: Golden Glove Becca Kohlman
Hit of the Week: Any one of a series of stinging blows made by Laura Schimpf, stepping up from the post and over the gain line. SU just couldn't handle it.
Saturday was game day, Saturday was opening day, and better, Saturday was game day and opening day versus friends, new division opponents and old rivals Brockport State.
As always when Geneseo play Brockport, the expectation was of a physical contest, a well played contest, a close contest in which a big play by a big-play player would be the edge. Had you made that three-part prediction, you would have been two-thirds correct. It was a physical contest, it was a well-played contest, but it wasn’t a close contest.
The match began, as many do, with the home side on top and the visiting side weathering the storm and attempting to assert its own pattern of play. Before Brockport could settle in, however, they found themselves down a try. After 13 minutes of sustained Geneseo pressure and relentless phase rugby, number 13 Rosie Kolb pierced the defensive line and dotted down for Geneseo’s first five-pointer. Flyhalf Liz Felix calmly slotted the conversion and Geneseo had its first lead, 7-0. It was the only lead they would need.
In the 19th minute, Rosie downed her second try, and it was 12-0. Still reeling, Brockport was unable to carry the following kick out of its own end, Geneseo regaining control through a combination of aggressive defense and an ability to contest the ball at the breakdown. The ensuing Geneseo attack was capped by a classic move to draw the defender and then pass that set up Rosie for her third try in 23 minutes. The conversion made the score 19-0.
Still embattled, Brockport was unable to generate any offense with their backs, and when Geneseo regained the ball it took just 5 more minutes for the Warthogs to tally another try, this one by wing Jorden Strapp, her first of the season, and her first for the D2 squad. Boot try! This one was set up by another lesson in phase play by Geneseo, a succession of rucks, rumbles and outlet passes in the center of the field opening up space for the backs to exploit with almost too much ease. In fact, throughout the first half, it was mistimed passes by Geneseo that were slowing down the Warthogs as much as (give credit where its due) Brockport’s determined tackling.
But determination can make a defense overaggressive, as Becca Kohlman elegantly demonstrated with her 32nd-minute kick and chase that allowed her fall on Geneseo’s 5th try of the half, the conversion of which made the score 24-0.
The coup de grace of Geneseo’s dominance was another boot try, this for Grace Thomson. It was training field stuff beautifully and forcefully realized by a succession of a coffin-corner penalty kick for touch by Liz Felix, a perfect throw by hooker Lulu Aulet, a clean take by number 8 Tessa Carberry, and then an unstoppable driving maul into goal. Shoot that boot all eight forwards for that one!
Halftime score: 36-0
After that it was a matter of staying focused and continuing to work through the second 40 minutes. The match settled down as Geneseo took its foot off the gas a little and Brockport’s pride and love of the game saw them fight for the whole 80—especially Tori Ferraina, sister of our very own Mia. One of the best things about this match was seeing the two of them face off, sister to sister, back row forward to back row forward, 8 to flank. Tori had her moments, as Tori always will (she was the player we feared could break open a close match in Brockport’s favor), but an illustration of how this was a Warthog day was Mia’s pair of stifling tackles when Tori picked up off of the back of the Brockport scrum and attempted blind side runs. Not today.
While on the subject of stifled 8-pick-ups, this would be a good time to mention the hit of the day, on Tori Ferraina, on an 8-pick. She took the ball and broke into open space--except that this open space wasn’t open for business, courtesy of Jen Kyne, who would have made a Maori proud with the smack she gave.
But back to the scoring—yes, there was more! In what was becoming a bit of a habit, Rosie again broke through the defense for a touch down, in the 61st minute. Tessa Carberry followed her example for five more points, 6 minutes later, showing that Warthog forwards can run them in as well as they shove them in. In the 61st minute, Jorden made it clear that her first would not be her last, scoring her second try, before saving 5 from Brockport with an impressive try-saving cover tackle. Becca closed the score sheet by claiming her brace, and Geneseo walked off the pitch with a well-deserved 56-0 tally.
A beautiful day, a physical, well-played, hard-fought contest against a respected opponent, and a convincing victory.
This Saturday was a Warthog Day.
Geneseo MVP: 4-try scorer Rosie Kolb
Geneseo hit of the match: Closet Pacific Islander Jen Kyne
Julius Caesar was cautioned, "Beware the Ides of March."
Perhaps someone should have suggested William Smith beware the Ides of September.
Certainly anyone shy of contact or determination would have done well to beware the Mendon Ponds pitch this past Saturday.
As open as Geneseo's D2 match was, this D3 match was tight. This game may not have had the open fluidity of the first, but it lacked nothing in vibrancy, proof that rugby can be as compelling when the ball is kept in close as it is when the ball is spread wide.
The first half will not be remembered for its scores, there were none. It will, instead, be remembered for hits. The breakdown was a war zone, with bodies gathered in and around the ruck in a near life and death struggle for possession. A lack of sophistication in the ruck meant a number of unintended bruises--most notably a kick to the head to Stephanie Kingsbury that will lead to her sitting a cautionary week --and in a succession of penalties for players leaving their feet in the ruck, which would have repercussions in the second half.
The end of the first half, meanwhile saw a series of penalties pin Geneseo inside its own 22. Attempting to run its way out, the Warthogs would gamely gain ground, only to lose the ball again at the breakdown with their indiscipline. Short of self control they may have been, but not of gumption, and though they were pinned, they didn't break, and the they survived the second quarter of the game in their own defensive quarter without surrendering a point.
Half time score: Geneseo 0, William Smith 0
The second half began positively for the hosts when, in the third minute, Stephanie scored the opening try of the contest on a strong carry that epitomized her energy throughout the match.
Inspired, the Geneseo pack picked up its game and gradually stamped its imprint on the match. In the meantime, both teams still struggled to keep their feet at the tackle, leading to a meeting among the referee and the team captains. The next penalty for falling over the ruck could mean a caution.
Long story short, it did mean a caution, fly half Katie Cardinal drawing the yellow and its companion invitation to the sin bin.
Down to 14 for the next 10 minutes, the Warthogs disproved the ESPN axiom. Somebody does, it seem, circle the wagons like the Buffalo Bills. Abandoning its attempts to move the ball wide, Geneseo instead focussed on attacking the defense up the middle, and found a soft belly to penetrate.
Now it was William Smith's turn to stand up strong in their quarter, giving ground but not surrendering at the line. A group of near touchdowns in the corner, a series of brave rucks at the edge of goal, some try-scoring tackles to deny darting runs by the now-lively Geneseo center backs denied Geneseo the chance to put the match away. Surely another try would settle this low-scoring affair.
The second try did come. Vicki Baum, standing in at stand-off during Katie's sin bin sojourn, spied the gap that had to open as the William Smith defensive line tired, and she scampered into the try zone by the direct route off the back of a scrum.
Game over, for sure.
But beware, remember, the Ides of September. Unwilling to surrender, William Smith found strength in adversity and manufactured a passage of rugby that saw them move down the field and eventually break through for a try that made the game a contest once again.
But then the back breaker, as Kerri Czurda broke off the back of the ruck and darted for clinching…no, an inability to touch the ball down denied the try and kept the contest close.
Close until another series of determined carries forward and near-goal rucks allowed scrumhalf Liz Santana to dive across into goal and show William Smith como va.
Undeterred, William Smith rallied once more and salvaged a losing bonus point, keeping the score within a try. But it was 4 winner's tallies for the home Hogs, and a season-starting 1-0 record.
Beware the Ides of September? Maybe. Beware a rampaging herd of Warthogs? Definitely.
Final Score: Geneseo 15, William Smith 10.
Geneseo MVP: Stephanie Kingsbury, with her unstoppable feet and her boot-proof face.
Hit of the Day: Katie Cardinal carrying through two tacklers on a run soon after her return from the sin bin: 10 minutes of anger and frustration taken out on two unfortunate opponents.
