Women’s Rugby held their own this past weekend
The Geneseo Women’s Rugby Club team had a successful, busy weekend with two tournaments in two days on Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 15-16. On Saturday, the Warthogs traveled to Fort Niagara State Park for the Battle for the Boarders tournament. The team held their own into Sunday as they tallied one win, one loss, and two ties.
On Saturday, Apr. 15 the Hogs made their way to Buffalo for a long and fulfilling day of rugby. They went up against Colgate University to kick off the long weekend and suffered a 19-10 loss with one try scored from freshman wing Ava Spottek in the first half and two tries from sophomore fly-half Hannah Reid in the second.
In the next game on Saturday, the Lady Warthogs suffered another loss, this time against Binghamton University, with a final score of 34-12. The team played their hearts out and came away proud of their teamwork. In the first half of the game, sophomore prop Maddie Sepcaru scored a try while Reid made one conversion kick to bring them up two more points.
In the third and final game, the Hogs went up against Buffalo University and came away with a 37-5 victory. In the first half, Reid once again held the team up and scored two tries while making her conversion kicks to bring up the score even further. Sophomore prop Maria Netto also scored one try soon after kickoff. Sepcaru scored two more tries in the contest and the conversions were made for both. Spottek scored two more times to end the day on a good note for the Warthogs.
To start the second day of games, the team was put up against LeMoyne College and won. In the first half, Reid scored again with one try and a conversion kick. In the second half, Sepcaru scored two amazing tries off the kickoff before freshman wing Anna Taylor ran through a gap to score the last try of the game as a result of a good read of the defense.
The next matchup came against the University of Rochester, which resulted in a 20-20 tie for the Warthogs, though they played hard and left the pitch with nothing but smiles. In the beginning half of the game, freshman center Sophia Bobeck scored the very first try of her rugby career. To finish off the last half of the second game, senior scrum-half Julissa Valdez scored a tough try before one more try from Spottek. Sophomore wing Emma Caprood scored her first try after a medical leave, and the team is excited to see what amazing things she does in the coming season.
The Hogs faced off against Ithaca College in their third game of the day which resulted in a close 17-15 loss. Midway through the second half, sophomore hooker Sophia Weik scored after a quick offload from Netto. Spottek kept going with two more tries to put an end to the game.
Finally, in the last event, the Hogs put up a great fight and tied Paul Smith’s College 20-20 which included another first try of a young rugger’s career, as freshman wing Kate Mendola scored in the first half. Sepcaru scored yet again in the first half out of a ruck and racked up points for the squad.
If you see a Women’s Rugby player around campus be sure and tell them job well done and good luck, as they are headed to Binghamton to play their final tournament of the season next weekend. If you are interested in joining the Lady Hogs, they practice Monday-Friday from 5-7 p.m. on the Onondaga field, and will continue to do so into the fall season next year.