Colby No. 8 Clare Stephens
Much like the Mid-Atlantic and Upstate New York conference championships, the New England Small College (NESC) title came down to two teams that played to a single-digit decision during the regular season. University of Maine-Orono entered last weekend’s final as the top seed, having defeated Colby 33-29 a week prior, but the rematch took a different turn.
Soggy conditions saw turnovers prevail early on, but it was Colby that took the first lead with a try near the 20-minute mark. Maine then rallied with back-to-back tries within five minutes of each other, leaning on strong loose play and hard crashes through the middle for the 12-5 halftime lead.
Colby tied it up four minutes into the second half, and then took a 17-12 lead on the backs of solid forward play and hands out wide. Maine capitalized on Colby penalties for a tying third try, 17-17. Two of Maine’s tries came from Maggie Aydlett (who was named Player of the Match alongside Taylor Patterson) and the third from Becky Callen. Maria Magnan added Maine’s conversion.
“It appeared the momentum would stay in favor of [Maine] when a yellow card was given to a Colby player for a dangerous tackle around the 60-minute mark,” explained Colby coach Susan Childers. “Instead, playing one down increased the determination of Colby and they scored an unconverted try shortly afterward to bring the score to 22-17.”
Colby’s points came primarily out of the backs, with senior captain Laura Wu, center Emma Hofman and wings Anna Braverman and Helen Sears all scoring tries (Sears kicked the conversion). The forwards, which are captained by lock Sierra Fuller, saw No. 8 Clare Stephens score the fourth try, but coach Childers had much more to say about the pack as a whole.
“While we do have several stand-out players, we focus on team play and support because of our limited size,” the coach considered MVP options. “I would have to choose one of the forwards, most likely Clare Stephens, though she would not be as good as she is without [prop] Jess Edlund, [flanker] Elissa Guerra and [lock] Ella Maddi. Those four players are extremely adept at supporting each other in loose play and typically their combined efforts lead to a score by Clare or Jess, my two ‘largest’ players.”
Those combined efforts also helped the 22-17 scoreline hold for the remainder of the match, and Colby repeated as NESC champion.
“It was a really good game and I’m proud of my team for prevailing over the team they lost to last week. We are really excited to see what we can accomplish going forward,” Childers enthused.
Colby now advances to the fall Round of 32 and will compete in the Northeast region. On Saturday, Colby will host the University of New Hampshire, which finished second in the New England Wide conference, and if victorious, report to Kutztown, Pa., for the fall Round of 16/8.
The season is not over for Maine either. The team will compete in the New England Bowl series and see Southern Connecticut in the Continental Bowl.
“I’m very proud of our season and how everyone has played. We challenged ourselves early, playing two NIRA teams, and had to deal with multiple forfeits mid-season. The team never gave up and kept working hard all season,” Maine coach Nicole Bernsen praised. “Unfortunately we came up short this weekend. We wish Colby luck representing our conference and are looking forward to a final weekend of rugby at the New England Bowl series.”
For the full DI and DII college fall brackets, click here.
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