Match Recap: Charles River Women vs. Portland
Charles River Women vs. Portland 9/15/2018, Week 2
This past Saturday, the Charles River Women hosted Portland. It was the first time the two teams faced each other since a pre-season matchup last fall. Coming off of last week’s win against Hartford, the River Rats came into warm-ups quiet but focused, knowing that a tough match lay ahead.
Portland drew first blood, scoring 3 times before flanker Sarah ‘Bee’ Wetherbee capitalized on a messy ball. A quick pick and go from a ruck turned into a 60 meter scoring run as Bee, trailing defenders as she went, claimed Charles River’s first try of the day. The second try was dotted down by fullback Alicia Scahill with some quick running on the sideline after a breakaway by lock Caleigh ‘Cake’ King put the Rats in scoring position. The score going into the half was 22-10, Portland’s lead.
Portland scored first in the second half, but inside center Rebecca ‘Rx’ Nashett responded with a beautiful weaving run through their defensive line. River scored again off a surprise lineout throw from flanker Brie ‘Bruiser’ Mendoza who stepped up to throw after hooker Sam Montano went out with a twisted ankle (feel better Sam) and it was discovered no one on the field knew how to throw for lineouts. Bruiser threw a beautiful long ball, albeit before the call, but back jumper Cake nabbed it handily and took off downfield before the defense realized what was happening. Lock Maria Sedjo was hot on her heels and caught the offload for the 4th try of the day. Portland showed their speed and responded with 3 tries. With only minutes in the match remaining River knew they were out of time. The Rats never gave up, however, and scored one last try right before the final whistle blew. Capitalizing on a penalty call that put Charles River in Portland’s territory, the Rats went full-press downfield. A back line series gave wing Katy ‘Wilks’ Wetherbee the ball, and a quick handoff to Bee resulted in the 5th and final Charles River try. The final score: 41-25, Portland.
While not the outcome hoped for, Charles River kept their heads cool throughout a tough match, and played good 15-as-1 rugby until the very end.
B-side was a group effort between 4 teams, and a lot of fun. The Lady Rats faced a motley team of Portland, Rutland Ravens, and Boston Women for a 60 minute match. Once again, the River B-Side was massively impressive as they played hard and with heart throughout the match.
The Lady Rats head up to Burlington this weekend for their first away match of the season.
Bitches of the Pitch:
A-Side: Forwards: Caleigh ‘Cake’ King, Backs: Katie ‘Ken’ Kennedy, Portland’s Choice: Kathryn ‘PK’ Wandicho
B-Side: Forwards: Hannah ‘Mini’ Minifie, Backs: Lydia Smith, Hartford’s Choice: Hannah ‘Mini’ Minifie
Interested in what happened elsewhere in the D2 NERFU women’s division? The Rugby Breakdown wrote up all the matches this past weekend. Check it out HERE.
Please also note that this write-up is based off the live facebook video that can be found on our Facebook page. The official scorers for Charles River (as reported on the USA Rugby website) are: Sarah Wetherbee, Alicia Scahill, Caleigh King in the first half. Rebecca Nashett and Maria Sedjo in the second half. All sources agree that the final score was 41-25, Portland.