Georgetown Rugby News
| Alumni WWW Message Board up and running | Hoyas win vs. Maryland puts them in the running for the National Championship |
|---|
ALUMNI MESSAGE BOARD
HOYAS @ MARYLAND (38-27) (15-10) (19-7)The first half was brilliant. Oscar had an airborn pass&catch with his ribs thoroughly exposed which resulted in a near-impossible try. Goodfellow again ran around their wings, as Randy Wilson ran over them, Kori snuck in, flailing like a mad banshee, for a try. Baba-booey put down his first one ever. "Hooray for Karl, Hooray at last!" Not to put the forwards out, as they have managed to regain their lineout game, and showed great form against the pacing Maryland team in the first half.
The last 10 minutes of the first half, and the second half, however, proved to be in Maryland's favor. Their incessant pacers and 8-man takes were wearing on the Hoyas, and when flanker Chris Dopp was ejected for unsafe play(C'mon ref, you're friggin' blind) we were forced to play one-man down. Maryland took advantage, as any good team would, but couldn't bring the score back from the 38-3 lead the Hoyas had accumulated.
The B's played like champs, with alot of close calls, great running, passing, and hitting, showing that half of these kids could be A-side on most other teams. I'll add more later.
The C's were composed of about 3 rookies, 2 or 3 veterans, and 9 or 10 inebriated alumni and former coaches who had been cajoled into playing after the Heineken had weakened their inhibitions sufficiently, and it was awesome. 4 years of Georgetown Captains on the field, 2 coaches, 2 former coaches, and we still played like a bunch of retards. But we were retards who knew how to play rugby. The ragtag bunch ran all over Maryland, with Diego Hernandez taking one in for the senior citizens, coach and alum Will Levay putting one down(or maybe two, I don't know) Steve Hoss, Kerry Blockley and Angelo Liberatore (along with Tram, who tried to bind on as the 4th front row) hurting people, including themselves at the front. It was beautiful. And the drinkup that night was even more beautiful. My girlfriend still can't walk from when Huggies tackled Kerry into her. Thanks, guys. Now she can't get out of bed. (Wait a minute, maybe that's not so bad after all -- I gotta go)
SCORING:
A-side -- Goodfellow (2 t), Herchold (1 t), Sargent (1 t),
Wilson (1 t), O. Ludwigson (1 t,4 c)
B-side -- Hunziker (1 t)... somebody write and tell me who else, please.
C-side -- Hernandez (1 t, 1 c), Levay (2 t), Goodfellow (1 c)
Key: t = try ; pk = penalty kick ; c = conversion; dg = drop goal.
HOYAS @ TOWSON (38-32) (10-55)Let's focus on the forwards, shall we? We were winning lineouts, which was nice, and everyone was rucking over nicely, and there were several defensive stands at the goal line. Chris Westrick had his first try ever, which must have felt good, because when he stood up after scoring, he had the biggest poo-eating grin on his face... His fellow second row, Chris Montroy took a great one in for his first A-side try ever as well, and in the news story in the Georgetown Voice, they even spelled his name right.
The backline did play really well at times, with Jimmy Goodfellow and Kori Sargent showing some great running, and Bergen Moore making some big runs before throwing the ball away to Towson's backs. Also, Oscar and Goodfellow played some great kicking defense, countering for 25 meters or more every time, which will help round out the backline skills. A last second interception by Towson almost lost us the game however, if it weren't for the God-sent knock-on that saved us a one-point defeat. The final: Hoyas 38-32.
B-side had a tough time against Towson, with the size and relative
inexperience of the pack coming into play and favoring the Towson side.
some great running by Mark the rookie wing, and some mean defense by
outside center Steve Yang, Toby the kookie 8-man, and Eval Knieval playing
second row, overcoming the mutilated right knee that has plauged him
since he tried to destroy a car with nothing but his bike and his body.
The second half proved to be the team's undoing, with Towson running up the
score against the Hoyas in an attempt to make up for their A-side loss.
Final score: Towson 10-55.
SCORING:
A-side -- Goodfellow (3 t), Westrick (1 t), Montroy (1 t),
Sargent (1 t), O. Ludwigson (4 c)
B-side -- Hunziker (1 t), Dopp (1 t)
Key: t = try ; pk = penalty kick ; c = conversion; dg = drop goal.
HOYAS vs. LOYOLA (36-0) (10-10)Chris Bletch saw his A-side debut this saturday, moving up to fill in the outside center position after the shake up when Rulebook had to go on some gay R.A. retreat for the weekend. Kori moved to scrumhalf, and after ten minutes of acclimating to the new position, showed he's still one of the most versatile (he swings both ways) players in the club. Even with the backline struggling with it's identity, they managed to make even Scary Henry (the backs coach) proud.
From the start, after Bergen's garbage kick-off, it seemed a fairly well-matched game. Georgetown managed to get 7 points in midway through the first half on an overload taken in by Goodfellow. The rest of the first half saw Loyola pounding it to the Hoyas within our 22 meter line for a good 10 minutes, once bringing it in, only to be held up by #8 Harald Kruse. Georgetown managed to accrue penalty after penalty, allowing Loyola to maintain field position. Then, like schmucks, they knocked it on during a botched penalty take, and gave us a chance to get it out of there. A crossfield kick by Bergen, picked up by Goodfellow finally did just that, but somehow Matt "I'm not THAT slow" Johnson was caught before he could put it in for a try, and the half ended 7-0 G-Town.
The second half, as usual, proved to be the camel that broke the horse's back, or something like that. Georgetown got a penalty early on, right in front of the posts, which the Weasel managed to kick through easily, stretching the lead to a more heartening 10 points. From there on out, it was all Georgetown. Even going uphill in the second half, Georgetown utilized their open-field passing skills to break down the Loyola defense, letting the wings burn down the sidelines for 3 more tries. Randy, after 30 meters of acceleration, finally showed his real speed, pointing and taunting Loyola the whole way in his usual L.A. style, and he did it twice. One of these days, Randy, you're going to get your ass kicked.
Goodfellow had two tries, as you all might have heard 10 or 12 times at the afterparty, but hell, the guy's fast. And today, even the wings passed the ball. Harald took an 8-man pickup in for 5 points after a great Kori Sargent kick was almost touched down by both Kori and Karl "How did I get here so fast?" Herchold. Oscar even made that kick, which was from right on the sideline. OK, he's easy to make fun of, he's not that cool, he's not so smart, he's got little if any personality, and he smells like a gym sock, but Oscar made some mean kicks today. Just kidding, Weasel.
Jean-Baptiste the frenchie threw some good flying elbows and made some good runs, showing that the French are good for something. Loyola won most of the lineouts, but we're hoping to change that soon enough. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot one of the best parts. 5 minutes into the first half, Oscar was spinning some Loyola kid out of bounds, Harald comes in to give him a solid hit, and suddenly the Loyola guy's on the ground, twitching like bad beef, his eyes rolled back in his head. Jeez, that was scary. (Note for parents: This almost never happens). But, luckily, he didn't die or anything, and apparently he'll be fine, just got hit in a wierd spot or something. Cops, ambulance, and fire fighters all showed up to park their cars on the field. On a lighter note, plenty of people, probably upwards of 20, came out to see us, most of them, suprisingly, were female. Suddenly we're cool!
B-side was fun to watch, although it ended in a tie, which is never great, especially with such a good B-side. Alot of good play from the likes of Kevin Daugawicz at wing, Tom Farren at scrum, and some great aggressive play by Jesse, who's apparently bigger than he looks. Like A-side, there was some sloppy play, particularly in the pack, but it's a young team, and it looked fair. Big bald Toby had some tough runs, one of which ended in a try, and Chris Doppler Effect took one in off a kick to bring the score up to 10-5 Georgetown. Near the end of the second half, though, Loyola came back and put one more down to bring it back to 10-10. Fortunately for us, they missed the conversion, and the game ended with a mixed-feelings tie.
The drinkup after the game could have been great, but some mean old lady didn't appreciate us singing our bawdy songs at 70 decibels right under her kitchen window. The nerve of her.
SCORING:
A-side -- Goodfellow (2 t), Wilson (2 t), Kruse (1 t),
O. Ludwigson (4 c, 1 pk)
B-side -- Hunziker (1 t), Dopp (1 t)
Key: t = try ; pk = penalty kick ; c = conversion; dg = drop goal.
HOYAS vs. GEORGE MASON (29-18)Let's see if I can remember the game... It started well, with Georgetown taking it hard to the Mason team, which was relying on it's flyhalf's excellent kicking game to advance the ball. The Hoya backline was definitely stronger than GMU's, and twice in the first half we got the ball out near the Mason try line, drew the defense and gave it to Matt "Bam Bam" Johnson to break through for tries. Newcomer Jean-Baptiste debuted at strong side flanker, and had a great showing, particularly in the loose ruck and maul, helping the Hoyas push the ball into George Mason territory, and setting up the backline's tries. The entire forward pack showed again that they can overpower a bigger team, although Mason did manage to break some tackles on pacers during the first half, and brought the game up to a tie at 12-12. Considering Mason's small team (17 players showed for the game) Georgetown had some work to do to prove that they were a contender for the Nationals.
The last part of the first half was more of Georgetown's game, as was the second half. Rob Wrona, constantly bitching about how I forget to include his tries in these write-ups, shoved one through for 5 points. Kori Sargent had some excellent runs, breaking tackles, pushing one through for a try and generally battering the GMU backline. Jimmy Goodfellow had several good runs, putting one down for a try, and Randy "Shakespeare" Wilson had some good upfield runs, punctuating them with his patented elbow-to-the-face manouver. Despite all the tries being scored in the corners, Weasel managed to put two through for conversions. Final Score: 29-18 Georgetown.
The ensuing drink-up at 3509 was beautiful as well, with a veritable love-in with the usually hostile George Mason team, at which we managed to get through nearly every song in the Georgetown Rugby repertiore. There were even rumors of some shells being put on at some point in the 9-hour party. A special thank you to Joey the Titty-man for a searing rendition of his trademark song.
SCORING:
It was a little crazy picking the B-side, knowing we'd need several of
them to sub in on A-side later, but things got off to a great start
regardless. Just 5 minutes into the game, a high up-and-under kick by
Bletsch resulted in a try, which Bletsch handily converted, and the
sidelines were going nuts. We're going to do it!
Nope. Navy answered our try with four of their own, showing how useful
being huge, strong, and fit can be. Georgetown fought well, but
Navy was just too friggin big, and managed to make some big runs right
through the Hoya defenders. The kicking game worked well for Georgetown,
pushing Navy back into their own 22, but the match belonged to Navy.
The score? C'mon, that's not important, it's how you play that matters.
A-side also got off to a fairly good start, with Georgetown's Oscar
Ludwigson making a penalty kick to bring us ahead 3-0. That would be
the last time we lead the game. Navy bowled through for two tries and
a penalty goal before Georgetown could get back into the game, thanks
to Jimmy Goodfellow's up-and-under, which made a terrific backwards
bounce right on the try line, right into Goodfellow's hands, giving us
a 5-point boost in morale. 15-8 Navy.
At this point, Navy's backline was pressing hard on the Hoyas, forcing
some mistakes, and changing our gameplan to include some kicking in
order to keep the Midshipmen backs hesitant. Unfortunately, Navy was
winning all (and I mean all) the lineouts, getting quick ball out to the
backs, and capitalizing on the staggered Georgetown backline to bust through
with their 6'5, 220 fullback, who would end up stiff-arming his way
to 6 tries for the day. Halftime saw the Hoyas down something like
28-8.
The second half saw the Hoyas run well at times, but the size and
hard-hitting intimidation of Navy kept G-town on its heels. The
lineouts we're still going Navy's way, rendering what could have been
an excellent kicking game for Rob Wrona ineffective. Twice however,
Georgetown managed to play the game as we saw it last week against
Catholic, getting the ball all the way down the line, where both times
it would end up in the hands of first-year prop English James who put
them both down for tries. Near the end, the backline finally busted
through the center, on two of Captain Bergen Moore's runs, one of
which got out to Kori and the wings, where it was stopped by the
everpresent Navy support, and the other which ended up with the
aforementioned enormous fullback picking up Bergen and giving him
what resembled a reverse suplex, upon which the referee awarded
Georgetown a penalty for unnecessary bullying. Final score - Georgetown
18 (not bad against Navy), Navy approx. 75.
C-side was a mixture of the new and the wounded, and mirrored the
first two games. There were moments of great playing, followed by
long periods of Navy scoring repeatedly. Consensus: Navy should be
put in a different league. They're not human.
SCORING:
Anyway, G-town was awesome. Jimmy "Damn that kid has wheels" Goodfellow
cooked up the sideline several times for a pair of tries. Westrick even
managed to sneak out to the
wing several times to show off his moves and blazing speed. Harald "H"
Kruse did his share, following up on one of Westrick's runs to score a
great forward try. The old and broken
captain Bergen Moore had several breaks up the middle, one of which
ended in a penalty try (decapitation is illegal), and another that was
supported by wing Randy Wilson who proceeded to burn the Catholic backs
up the right side for a try. Future back Dan Oldroyd pushed his way
through Catholic to score one, and I think that's all the scoring.
Oscar, of course can kick it through the uprights from just about
anywhere. Anywhere, that is, except for right in front of them.
His first conversion after Randy's first-half try brought the Hoyas
up to 7-7 at halftime, boosting the morale enough for the second-half
beating that was to be given to deserving Catholic team.
Let me just say, for the record, that we're fricking awesome this year.
Look for us in the Nationals. Yep, you heard it here first. For the
first time in my 5-odd years as an undergrad, I'm looking forward to
the game against Navy. Enough said.
B-side was awesome. Some great play by Chris Bletsch who moved into
flyhalf this week, and scrumhalf Tom "911" opened up some holes in the Catholic defense, with
tries by Kimani Little, rookie Karl "the Buzzard" Ludwigson, and another
rookie Toby "I look like Adam" somethingorother. Solid play all around,
making B-side not only undefeated, but also without any tries scored
against them. Bletsch had some good kicking in there as well, with two
conversions and a penalty goal, but the Axle Rose bandanna's gotta go.
C-side. Yep, you heard it right - we finally have enough guys to field a
C-side, almost. Tim "I'm not fat" Kennedy and Will "I'm not drunk" Levay,
our proud new coaches, stood in on C-side to show us how it's done.
A couple of rookie standouts in the game, the winger called Mark and
the man called Asia (Sung), in particular, but everybody was playing
really well, and by this time in the day, my memory had already started
fading. I think we lost, though, which isn't a surprise, since Catholic
put most of their A-side back in for the C-side game.
SCORING:
The second half started out pretty poorly, with the Hoyas lack of fitness
showing this early in the season (Henny Millers for everyone!), allowing
the Mothers to push a maul all the way over the try line to score,
reminding the Hoyas that this game wasn't over yet. Kept behind their
22-meter line for a good 10 minutes, Georgetown had trouble getting the
momentum back up. With 15 minutes to go, however, the game began to
pick up again, and Georgetown finally got the ball out to the wings,
and the tides turned. The last 5 minutes were belonged to the Hoyas,
and when the final whistle blew, it was GU over Mary Washington, 13-5.
B-side was good stuff. Things ran quite well, and with G-Town's fairly
experienced Killer B's, once the ball got out to the backline, it was
all over. Handshake (Goodfellow) had a couple of runs that spanned
across the whole field, and once he reached the other side, everybody
was sick of chasing him. One beautiful try saw Goodfellow making a
completely unnecessary diving leap into the try zone, vying for the
attention and admiration of his adoring fans. Another showoff, Ted
"Stanley" Owens, took one up the side, through a throng of Mary Wash
players, and proceeded to dance his way back to the 50 meter line as
the crowd chanted his name. "Ted-dy, Ted-dy!"
In his kicking debut, Chris Bletsch came on strong after a shady start,
hitting a couple
between the uprights, and played well with support from Steve Yang in
the backline. Tom "911" Ferran and David "Pigpen" Shebay both showed
strong running skills at flyhalf and scrumhalf, respectively. The
Mothers were unable to score a try against the mighty Hoyas, final
score, 23-3 Hoyas.
SCORING:
A-side -- Goodfellow (1 t), Johnson (2 t), Sargent (1 t),
Wrona (1 t), O. Ludwigson (2 c)
Key: t = try ; pk = penalty kick ; c = conversion; dg = drop goal.
You happy now, Rulebook?
HOYAS @ NAVY (18-75) (12-68) (7-55)
OK, we thought we had a chance, we'll admit it. But damn, those guys
are big! Plus, we had to get up at 8:30 to get there in time, and
that's way too early. First kick-off (B-side) was at 11:00, so I'll
start with them.
A-side -- Goodfellow (1 t), English James (2 t), O. Ludwigson (1 c)
Key: t = try ; pk = penalty kick ; c = conversion; dg = drop goal.
HOYAS vs. CATHOLIC (36-7) (22-3) (12-25)
For the first time in over four years, Georgetown has put together
a strong enough side to defeat crosstown rival Catholic University.
And, as if to make up for the last 6 defeats, the Hoyas hauled Catholic
over their knee and spanked them 36-7, a large spread in a history of
close games. Catholic was #14 in the country last year, if I remember
correctly. Hmmmmmmm.
A-side -- Wilson (1 t), Goodfellow (2 t), Oldroyd (1 t), Kruse (1 t),
Moore (1 t), O. Ludwigson (3 c)
B-side -- Little (1 t), K. Ludwigson (1 t), Toby (1 t), Bletsch (1 pk, 2 c)
C-side -- Levay (1 t), others...
Key: t = try ; pk = penalty kick ; c = conversion; dg = drop goal.
HOYAS @ MARY WASHINGTON (13-5) (23-3)
Ah, yes. It's always nice to go up to play the blokes at Mary Wash,
and even nicer when we win. After two solid losses against the Mothers
last year, Georgetown comes on strong to win 13-5 in the fall season
opener, showing the potential of the best side Georgetown has seen
in 4 years. With two early penalty goals by Oscar "the Weasel" Ludwigson,
Georgetown was immediately in control of the game. The pack, with the
aid of sophomore hooker Dan "Elroy" Oldroyd, managed to steal a good
percentage of the Mothers' scrummages, and the large backline kept the
smaller Mary Wash backs kicking up-and-unders to avoid being crushed.
Tackling was very good all around and even with
the Hoyas normally small pack, we managed to overpower their
pack in nearly every scrum, showing once again that size isn't everything.
Our rucking game was fair, allowing Randy "Shakespeare" Wilson to put one
over the try line, only to be brought back by the legally blind
referee. The referee's unique use of 7's-style kickoffs was equally
interesting. Harald "Horse" Kruse managed to carry it in eventually,
and Oscar converted brilliantly. 13-0 at the half.
A-side -- Kruse (1 t), O. Ludwigson (2 pk, 1 c)
B-side -- Goodfellow (2 t), Owens (1 t), Bletsch & others...
Key: t = try ; pk = penalty kick ; c = conversion; dg = drop goal.