Friendly vs. College of Charleston

Last winter, UNCC faced the College of Charleston in the biggest battle of the Matrix season.  The team that won would go on to regionals, UNC-Charlotte barely scraped by with a 17-15 win.

Saturday College of Charleston travelled back to Charlotte to play a fall friendly game.  While the outcome did not matter as much as it had in the past, both teams wanted the win.  Charlotte fought hard and wouldn't allow any tries by CoC.  The final score 31-6, UNCC won by a much wider margin than 8 months ago.

MVP: Nicole Floersch

Pack Player of the Game: Victoria Ellis   Back Player of the Game: Dominique Williams

Defense Player of the Game: Maddy Clark Offense Player of the Game: Courtney Jessamy

vs. UNCG

When you put a lot of players in new positions, it can go very good, or very very bad.  Luckily when UNCC stepped on the field in Greensboro, they didn't care what position they were in, they were ready to play.

It took a few minutes for everyone to get their bearings, but 8 minutes into the game we used our assets and Meghan Sydney ran 50 yards to score the first try.  Minutes later scrumhalf Christina White was also able to score a try.  

Scrums were not our best, especially when the hookers from both teams had both feet on the ball - but we pushed through. We were able to get the ball out to the backline and Courtney Jessamy was able to score a try.  UNCG finally rallyed and used penalties to their advantage.  They were able to put up two tries before Meghan Sydney ran them down again for her second try. 22-10.

Communication made the game and Christina White was also able to score again.  UNCG came back for one last try making it 27-17 before Meghan Sydney put an end to it and ran in for another two tries.  In the last minutes of the game, the ball went to Liz Alliss in the backline and she ran for 40 yards.  5 yards from the tryline she started to go down but got the ball out to Courtney Jessamy for one last try.  Final Score 42-17.

Thank you UNCG for hosting us and providing a game everyone could enjoy.  Next week we play College of Charleston at home, it will be a tough one.  Come watch!

MVP: Victoria Ellis for being at everything offensive and defensively

Pack Player of the Game: Anjee McNary, for rocking a new position and pushing thru those rucks!

   Back Player of the Game: Meghan Sydney for making 4 tries.

Defense Player of the Game: Dominique Williams for making every tackle even when others missed.

Offense Player of the Game: Liz Alliss, for making runs up field in a new position.

Broken Curse

One would think a team as young as we are wouldn't have curses already, but that is the way Rucktoberfest feels.  Two years ago we went to Rucktoberfest as a rookie team and lost every game, but never expected much.  Last year we attended Rucktoberfest with a little more enthusiasm, but couldn't pull out a win (although later in the season, we came back and beat each team individually).  This year we had high hopes going in, until we saw our competition.

Competition is good for the soul.  Tough competition shows you where your faults are and what you need to work on.  Being the only division 2 team out of eight  in a tourney is a whole different level of competition.

Appalachian State, East Carolina University, James Madison University, NC State, University of South Carolina, and UVA (a & b side) all travelled to Boone NC to play in this year's Women Only Rucktoberfest Tournament.

The brackets were divided and we would be playing ECU, UVA, and NC State on Saturday. 

At 9:30 on Saturday morning we started with a little rain, some sleet, and a lot of snow.  ECU was quick to get on the scoreboard and were up 7-0 within the first 10 minutes.  Winning majority of the scrums, Christina White was able to get the ball to  flyhalf Dominique Williams who was able to then break through and score a try.  7-7.  Pouring snow makes for a lot of dropped balls and knock ons.   Scrumming is something both teams were good at, but hooker Maddy Clark won almost every one for UNCC.  Again off a scrum, an 8 man pick to the weak side by Liz Allis brought us our second try.  Unfortunately it was near touch so a kick in the sideways snow didn't make it.  7-12. In the last scrum of the game, again we

 won it, but the ball slipped right through our scrumhalf's hands providing opportunity for ECU's scrumhalf to pick up the ball.  ECU passed out quickly and was able to score a try and their kick, bring the final score 14-12.  A tough loss.

A two hour break gave us time to attempt to dry off, just so it could rain again.  At 12:30 we went up against UVA A-side.  UVA was ready and waiting to pound away at us.  With more experience in organization and communication, UVA had no problem putting up 5 tries to our none.

With a 10 minute break between the UVA game and NC State, we could not get our team back together.  NC State was able to use our exhaustion and defeat against us to put up 2 tries in the first half.  During the second half we finally started to play our game again, and fullback Nicole Floersch was able to score a try.  At that point it was too late as NC State was still able to put up another one.

Sunday brought clear skies and a new team to play.  The brackets were not just based on winners, but also points.  We started our morning playing USC at 11am.  Both sides were plagued with multiple injuries from the day before, but we were still able to put together a good team.  We decided to startover.  Play our game, knowing if we didn't get frustrated or over run, we could pull off a win.  The ladies just wanted it worse sunday morning.  Liz Alliss scored again from a substitution role at outside center.  Jessica James drove through and scored off a penalty. Meghan Bradsher was able to score from inside center.  The gamecocks were able to score two tries, but it just wasn't enough to take us out.  UNCC walked away with a win, and a chance to play for the third place title against ECU.

ECU- The same team we had lost by a kick to in the snow.  

At 1:30pm we took the field ready to play our hearts out.  We had finally won a game at rucktoberfest, and now we could even go for third!  ECU beat us to the scoreboard, 5-0.  But we quickly came back and drove up the field for a try by rookie Alex Spaugh.  5-7

ECU was not going to go down easy and snuck around the outside for another try.  We decided to mimic their try with one of our own by wing Raelyn Jehlik.  Score 10-12.  In the end ECU was able to put up one last try in the last 3 minutes of the game bringing the final score 15-12.

While we have always lost at rucktoberfest, the competition was fiercer this year than it has ever been.  Thank you to all the teams that went and to AHO for hosting.  We are grateful our curse is broken, and we will be back next year.

UNCC vs. Chapel Hill

In college rugby, the fall is used to train new players and the season is set by the individual teams.  The first game of the fall is supposed to be against an easy team so you can teach your rookies without a lot of pressure.  Unfortunately - or fortunately - depending on your view,  no one easy wanted to play us early in the fall.  UNC-Chapel Hill was the only team willing to take us on.  

Chapel Hill is a D1, top eight school.  We are top eight, but in D2.  We knew on the first day of practice that we would have our work cut out for us.

Chapel Hill brought 46 players to our 26 and the game was set with 4 20minute quarters.  The goal of both teams was to have a scrimmage where everyone could play.  Mean Green wanted to teach not only the rookies, but Carolina that we are as good as they are.

The first quarter started off as a show down, UNCC scored two tries off the backline, but wasn't able to make the kicks.  UNCC dominated both the lineouts and the scrums, making it easy to pass the ball off to the backline.  Carolina was good on the tackle, and quick to poach the ball long before a ruck could be set.  Carolina quickly put in two more tries, and made their kicks!  Carolina was up, but not for long.  UNCC got it together and started to communicate on the field. We turned the game around with three more tries to win the game 27-14!

MVP: Maddy Clark, for keeping her cool and leading the team

Pack Player of the Game: Anjee McNary, for all the tackles & runs

   Back Player of the Game: Rise Shine, for playing every position, making every tackle, and those runs!

Defense Player of the Game: Jessica James for being at every ruck and taking those down who needed it.

Offense Player of the Game: Meghan Bradsher, for communication and the amazing runs.

 

Thank you to the Charlotte Men for hosting our game and Carolina for traveling to play us!

The Season has Arrived

It's that time of year again to brush off your cleats and head out to the pitch.  New members and old will begin with the basics and progress into being the best athlete's we can be.  This is going to be the greatest, hard hitting year UNCC's ever seen!  Last year, with it being our first competing year, we made our mark at national's landing us in the top 10 of the nation, and this year we're aiming for the #1 spot.  So if you're ready for hard work and dedication, as well as meeting new people who will become family , come on out to the practice fields starting August 30th from 6-8pm.  Don't forget your mouthguard!

Practice(Beginning August 30th):Every Tuesday and Thursday from  6-8pm 

Location: New Rec fields on John Kirk 

2010 Comes to a Close

At 2am on November 20, NC State cancelled on us.    All of our hard work would not go to waste as we played a friendly game on our field.  

Thank you to everyone who came out in support of our team this year.  We have come a long way from a developmental team losing games, to a 6-0 season.

While our season is over for the year, all of us will continue to train and improve our fitness levels.  Please contact us if you want to join in.  

A special congratulations goes to those who are not done for the year.  NCRU U-23 AllStars will be going to a tournament on December 5th. Four ladies from UNCC made the team and two more made the reserve team. Maddy, Victoria, Liz, Sydney, Kat, and Christina, we are all proud to have you representing us.

Matrix season starts in the spring.  This year all of USA South was rearranged to meet new teams and provide a level playing field.  North Carolina Division II teams are generally a part of the Dogwood Division.  Being the southern most university in NC, we were moved to the Oak Division.  Oak includes College of Charleston, The Citadel, and Emory.  Please join us in the spring as we travel to within Oak to continue our quest to be Division Champs.  Our spring schedule is posted on the schedule page.

A Cold Day in...

Technically it was a cold night Friday night when UNCC travelled yet again.  This time we went to Burlington to play Elon University.  In the past year and a half, we have never come up against Elon, so we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into.  We just knew it would be cold.

We didn't realize it would be 38 degrees and frigid.  We shivered as we watched Elon bring out two full sides for warmups.  Immediately we knew it would be a tough game. 

At 8:30pm, kick off occurred and the game began.  For the first time in weeks, we didn't watch the game, we played from the whistle.  Changes in the lineup made it a different game, but made the team stronger.  Lineouts were new, but quickly changed to be amazing.  Anjee stole all the long balls, and Victoria defended an amazing jumper.  The scrums were tough as pushing occurred before the ball, but Mariah made the hooks and won us the ball. 

We were there for every ruck, every play and had learned how to communicate.  We scored two tries before Elon scored on us.  And we were determined not to let it happen again.  We scored again before their wing got around us and made a second try.  It was the last try they would make against our heart.  We played our game, and we played to win.  Natalie made awesome moves from flank and was able to score twice.  Our back line ran straight and Courtney scored from fullback.  The final score 34-14.  If only we'd get the ball away from touch when scoring a try, we'd make a few more kicks.

MVP: Natalie, for her defense and offense moves, for holding the pack together and those amazing tries

Back player of the Game: Courtney, for breaking the line and defending the kicks      Pack Player of the Game: Liz, for being there for everything

Offensive Player of the Game: Anjee, for stealing the lineouts and running straight    Defensive Player of the Game: Vic, for making all those tackles.

Redeem Thyself

A 7-10 loss is a hard thing to take, especially if it came during a tournament full of losses.  Just a month ago at Rucktoberfest that was the final score of the UNCC vs USC game.  Saturday, November 6, 2010 UNCC traveled to Columbia SC to redeem thyself.

The first few minutes of the game were sloppy.  There was so much energy and drive to win, that we forgot how to play.  Within 5 minutes, USC had scored a try. 

That try was the wake up call that the team needed.  Quickly remembering how to get their heads in the game, UNCC went to playing their own game, instead of watching.  Tough plays, tougher calls a lot of heart drove the ladies to lay it all out there.

Four more tries were made on the pitch,  all by UNCC, 2 by rookies.  The final score 22-5. 

MVP: Erin- for her offense up the field, defense and leadership

Back player of the Game: Natalie          Pack Player of the Game: Mariah

Offensive Player of the Game: Dominique      Defensive Player of the Game: Liz

A Windy Day at Wake

On October 23, UNCC travelled to nearby Winston-Salem to play their self-defined rivals, Wake Forest.  Being a fresh team in spring of 2010, UNCC looked to make a name for themselves.  When they went to Wake in March, they came home with a tie, not something that usually happens in rugby.

This October promised to be a different story.  UNCC would not settle for a tie, much less a loss.

The first 10 minutes of the match looked like a rookie game.  All of the hype had caused the team to forget what it takes to get a win.  As soon as the jitters started to wear off, the game actually began.

UNCC maintained possession of the ball, only losing it to the mighty Wake lineouts.  It took 25 minutes, but the scoreboard finally lit up with a try by rookie wing- Meghan.   After some head smashing, and sin bins on both sides, the score continued to rise with trys by Flyhalf-Maddy, Scrumhalf-Christina, Wing-Meghan, and of course, Strong Flanker -Erin.  Sideline tries and a very windy pitch made the kicks difficult - final score UNCC-27, Wake-0.

    MVP: Courtney - for those awesome breakthroughs and tackles

Back Player of the Game: Natalie                  Pack Player of the Game: Victoria

Offense Player of the Game: Meghan                    Defense Player of the Game: Mariah

Away at UNC-Chapel Hill

It was a little chilly on October 16th, when the team travelled to Chapel Hill to play the Tarheels B side. 

Going in, we knew it would be a tough game.  UNC is a consistently national ranked team, and even their B side is good.  We developed a game plan and decided to play our best game.

Within the first 5 minutes of the game, prop Liz scored our first try and set the tone for the game.  Once we knew tries were possible against UNC, there was no stopping us.  We played the skills we'd practiced, improving our rucking game and on field awareness.  3 more tries were made by 8 man Victoria, Flyhalf-Maddy, and Scrumhalf-Christina.  UNC was only able to score one try - leaving a final score of 22-5.  Way to go MEAN GREEN!