Brewsers bowled over by Marist 42-5

It was an odd type of day-the hot sun warmed the fans faces while the bitter cold wind chilled everything else. The paradox was, in the end, appropriate for the results of the women's rugby semifinal game. The Brewsers were edged out of the tournament by Marist College 42-5, despite the great strides the team has made throughout the season.

"The first time that we played them [Marist], they were the better team," Coach Tim Dobbs said. The Brewsers had fallen to Marist in the first game of the season, 54-0. "On Sunday, our team was equal with Marist in terms of skill, though the score doesn't reflect that."

The team finished with a season record of 3-3, which put it in third place for the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union playoffs. Marist and Stony Brook stood in the way of the women's rugby Division III championship.

To stand on the sidelines of a regular rugby game and not becompletely drawn into every play, every struggle for possession and every rally requires almost herculean endurance. This was no regular game. This was the semi-finals. Add that to the fact that the official refereeing the game was universally despised by Drew University spectators, and the tension-charged air only grew thicker.

To the photographers, parents, students and coaches, the game was just that-a game. To the players in the opening minutes of the game, lined up and staring each other down, the game had grown into the fields of war, with the ball at the center of it.

The two armies clashed in the middle of the field in a brief ruck, before a Marist player took possession of the ball and streaked downfield. The Brewsers, still caught up in the ruck, couldn't react in time, as the Marist player streaked down the sidelines to put Marist on the board. And that was just the beginning.

"We have a bad habit of starting off too slow," Melissa May ('08) said. "They took advantage of that early on."

Loose, limber and finding their stride, the women's rugby team charged into the second half with a new energy.

After numerous rucks mere inches from Marist's goal line that had fans of both teams screaming themselves blue, there was a breakthrough by Brewser offense. Inside center Victoria Webbe ('09) finally broke through the Marist line, coming to a bone-shuddering crash just past the try line to result in Drew's only try. The Brewsers had succeeded in getting on the board.

"I was glad to see our women's team's gallant play," President Bob Weisbuch said. "I think this team is going to be even more successful in the years ahead."

There's always next year.