Makena Emery kicked the game winner. Photos courtesy Vassar Athletics
The following is excerpt from Vassar College’s press release …
The Beast of the East is THE 15s collegiate tournament in the northeast. Sixty-three teams reported to Portsmouth, R.I., this year, and six champions took home trophies. The women’s Division I title came down to Vassar College and UCONN, a rematch of 2017, and necessitated two overtime periods and kick tiebreaker.
On Saturday, the Brewers beat Boston College 36-0 and Buffalo State 25-7. Flanker Oshana Reich led the way on the scoreboard with four tries, while Michelle Urrutia (2), Yuming Ren, Molly Lynch and Megan Martin also dotted down. Makena Emery slotted three conversions.
On Sunday, Vassar a 31-10 semifinal victory over Bishop’s University. Reich (2), Martin, Emery and Abby Alexander scored tries, and Emery kicked three conversions. On the other side of the bracket, UCONN, which was coming off its third-straight Cherry Blossom championship, defeated Boston College 41-0 to advance to the final.
2018 marked Vassar’s 12th trip to the Beast of the East, and every single outing has led to a final. Heading into Sunday, seven of those tournaments ended with a first-place finish and four with second place.
UCONN took a 12-point lead to put Vassar under some pressure.
“UCONN, a Division I program, looked very comfortable confronting the Vassar picking game and were able to draw penalties at the breakdown,” Vassar head coach Tony Brown wrote. “This allowed them to kick for territory and in fact, a majority of the first half was played in the Vassar end. Interestingly, with a much bigger pack, the Huskies were held multiple times close to the goal line, but when they did swing the ball wide they looked dangerous at times.”
Though trailing, Vassar remained committed to its picking game and dug deep on defense during the second half.
“Of particular note was the quality and nature of the tackles,” Brown commended the defense. “Time and time and time again the UCONN ball carriers were picked up and driven straight back. There were so many tackles deserving of a highlight reel.”
The forwards went to work and eventually sucked in the UCONN defense, allowing the ball to flow wide and fullback Urrutia to hit wing Andrea Ramsay for the try. Vassar’s defense then turned over possession and the team marched down field. As the pick-and-go game neared the goal line, Reich dove over for her seventh try to the weekend, and Emery’s conversion tied it up, 12-all.
Two five-minute overtime periods followed. Both teams had their opportunities to score, driving down the pitch and yet halted at the goal line. And so a kick-off would determine the victor. Emery coolly slotted the first kick, and then UCONN’s kicker slipped just before the strike, and the ball sailed wide. The sidelines emptied, swarming the flyhalf and celebrating Vassar’s eight Beast of the East tournament win.
“One cannot say enough about the defensive effort of the Vassar players,” Brown concluded. “Critically, they showed they could play rugby without the ball and it paid dividends. Congratulations to all, thanks are due to parents, friends, and supporters who braved the bitter cold conditions and hats off to the Vassar captains, Amanda Saich, Alicia Menard-Livingston, and Claire Fondrie-Teitler, for their leadership and commitment.”
Championship roster: 1 Catherine Gladstone (Sabrina Perry), 2 Charlotte Benoit, 3 Megan Martin, 4 Megan de Koning, 5 Claire Fondrie-Teitler, 6 Sarah Mawhinney, 7 Oshana Reich, 8 Amanda Saich, 9 Jennie To, 10 Makena Emery, 11 Andrea Ramsay, 12 Molly Lynch, 13 Alicia Menard-Livingston, 14 Abby Alexander, 15 Michelle Urrutia (Halle Hutchison).