Claremont Women's Rugby Hands ASU a Stunning Defeat
By Laura Corliss
Contributing Writer

Women's Rugby captains Tiffany Hall '03 and Anne Gibson '03 recall a gruesome loss to the Arizona Devils their freshman year: 104-0. With talk of the size and strength of the Arizona women at the preceding practices, even new ruggers who don't remember the '99- '00 season approached Linde field Sunday morning with a mix of determination and apprehension. Three years later, the Sun Devils are the same force they were then. Three years later, the Foxes have risen to the challenge. The Claremont women not only defended their tryzone from the sweeping Devil aggression of '00, but emerged victorious on the pitch, 15-10.

The first half began with Gibson's kick-off at center field to ASU. Though the Devils caught the kick with ease, they were only able to make it to the 30 meter point before they were forced into the first scrum of the game. The combined fancy footwork of the tight five and swift hands of scrumhalf Janice Kang '04, proved as important an asset as the size and strength of the women in Arizona's scrum. This teamwork helped the Foxes earn the ball in the first minute of the game and again in many subsequent scrums. Having possession didn't help the Foxes drive down the field, however, and a second scrumdown formed minutes later just outside of the 22 meter line. Kang delivered the ball once again to the backs, but a pass further down the line was intercepted by a Devil who hastily kicked the ball in. Claremont touched the ball down in its own tryzone, and because the ball was brought in by an Arizona kick, the Foxes were awarded a 22-meter drop out.

This time Claremont drove the Devils back into Devil territory and three minutes later the game was just 30 meters shy of Arizona's tryzone. Nine minutes into the first half, tight prop Lauren James CMC '05 took the ball on her foot and covered 20 meters of ground where new rugger lineman Karie Ulrich CMC '06 retrieved the ball, took a few steps, and fell purposefully into the tryzone with Arizona on her back. The first try went to Claremont not ten minutes into the game.

In the sidelines, one proud parent remarked, "we just scored first against Arizona. It doesn't matter what happens now." But the Claremont women were not so assuaged by their first try to let their determination wane. ASU's kick to Claremont resulted in so near a second try for Claremont that ASU was forced to bring the ball into their own tryzone for a 5-meter scrum. Their plan was successful as the Devils retrieved the ball. As the ball moved to the other side of the pitch, once more in Fox turf, Gibson intercepted the ball and ran it single-handedly 35 meters. Claremont retrieval from the resulting scrumdown just shy of the half gave Gibson and the line women a chance to show Arizona how backs are supposed to pass. By the time the ball made it to outside center Becky May PI '06, Arizona could do nothing but give chase. A single-handed 50-meter run for Mau culminated in a pass to Ulrich, who was able to run the ball into the tryzone and comfortably loop to the center for the second try of the game. Claremont was unable to secure the conversion, but maintained a 10-point lead for another twelve minutes.

Play went back-and-forth between the Foxes and the Devils, until the Devils were finally able to push into Claremont's tryzone for their first score of the game twenty-seven minutes in. The score remained 10-5 for the rest of the half, though Claremont was robbed of another try one minute before the end of the half as Kang ran the ball into the tryzone just in time to be pushed out of bounds by a burly Devil.

8-Man Jessica Bouchard SC '05 captured the sentiment of the team during the break at half. "They're a division I school with 25,000 undergrads and they can't hang with us!" The familiar vicious side of the Devils was unleashed in the second half when a certain Arizona outside center revisited an illegal but un-called above-the-head tackle on May. More back-and-forth play froze the score for the first twenty minutes of the second half. Despite the powerful passes of flyhalf Gibson and the line, neither team gained much significant distance on the field.

Twenty-four minutes in, the referee continued to neglect Arizona's illegal tricks, this time in the line out - Arizona sent too many people to the line and one lingered in the tunnel - claiming Claremont's advantage. Claremont didn't need the penalty kick points; Gibson laid the ball on her foot, which caused the Devils to panic and touch the ball in their own tryzone once more. Claremont gained the scrum and wing Feliz Ventura '03 scored the Foxes' third try of the game.

The Devils soon countered with a second try of their own. The kick off to the Devils found the action, once again, right outside of the Devil tryzone. Two Arizona women desperately tried to kick the ball to gain some distance, but each kick was body-blocked by a Fox - one by inside Darci Snowden HMC '04 and the other by Hall. Finally the Devils attempted a run, but Ventura was quick to wrap. In the last moments of the game, Arizona made one more kick, which was caught by frontman Taylor Bouchard SC '05 just as the clock ran out.

When asked how Claremont was able to defeat Arizona this weekend, coach Leslie Jamison said, "Two things. First: heart, truly. Second: we played together. They're bigger, stronger, they're more experienced, [and] they're a lot more physical than we are. But we have speed, and that made the difference."