Bomber Women Notch their Second Victory

Saturday, March 18, 2006

 
The Bomber women notched their second victory in as many matches, defeating a well coached University of Illinois side 14 - 12 in what seemed an uphill battle all day. At the ten minute mark, Ann Marie Russell capitalized on a hurried pass by the U of I centers, chipping the ball ahead, collecting her own kick and winning the footrace to the try line. Mari Therrien successfully converted the difficult kick through the leaning uprights. The speedy Bomber backline was handcuffed the entire day playing on a very narrow and short pitch that negated their speed and tactical kicking prowess. The first half was highlighted with some strong rucking around the narrow pitch by the young, well-schooled U of I team. U of I capitalized on some handling errors and missed tackles by the Bomber backline, scoring a try shortly before the half ended.

In the second half, a growing and one-sided penalty count against the Bombers mounted, that was marked with some extremely interesting decisions by the referee, continually kept the Bombers running backwards. The pressure was relieved by a deep clearing kick and chase by Liz Reed and Katie Giljum which managed to get the Bombers moving forward again. The momentum was delayed though as an Illini player went down with an injured knee; Reed and Giljum displayed some nice sportsmanship protecting her until play was moved away from the area. The Bomber attack continued with Jen Kelley getting into the try zone through some hard running and supporting drive from her teammates, but the ball was held up. Shortly afterwards, flyhalf Mari Therrien put the Bombers frustration to good use, breaking several tackles and muscling in for the try and converting her own hard work. A rather interesting decision by the whistle stopped the Bomber momentum as a single penalty call at midfield was quadrupled. The referee marched the Bombers back a full 40 meters until they found themselves standing on their defending try line. U of I was able to capitalize, dotting down just before full-time. Final score 14-12.

Gillian Blackwell, returning to rugby following a knee injury, made her presence known with one aggressive phase after another. Alison Whitaker in her first match at scrumhalf was calm under pressure, delivered good service, and applied solid pressure on her opposite number at the set pieces. Michelle Stephen and Beth Mulligan led the Bomber defense charge with some solid tackling. Lock forward Diana Rau was a tough in attack, dragging several Illini players with her on every run. Another bright spot on the day was the aggressive tackling and hard running by the impressive rugby newcomer Jen Kelley playing in her first match after only one week of training.