• 2008
  • February 24, 2008
  • February 16, 2008
  • February 11, 2008*
  • January 19, 2008
• 2007
  • March 04, 2007
  • March 04, 2007*
  • February 24, 2007
  • February 24, 2007*
  • January 28, 2007*
  • January 27, 2007
• 2006
  • February 04, 2006
  • January 15, 2006
  • January 15, 2006*
• 2005
  • April 09, 2005
  • February 19, 2005
  • February 14, 2005
  • January 30, 2005
  • January 22, 2005
  • January 15, 2005

UCLA vs. Oxy — January 22, 2005

This past weekend showed just how hard the girls have worked throughout the week. Last weekend may have been a wake-up call to how much effort goes into a game of rugby. Every single girl that was out on the pitch at Occidental College gave a hundred percent, and then some.

Occidental College, as our "sister" school, was a competitive and very cordial team. Just as us, they never gave up once in 80 minutes. To their credit, it was obvious their play did not match their better knowldge of the game due to their having only one practice thus far.

At the beginning whistle, UCLA was fired up. So fired up, in fact, that there were two quick errors; offsides and a knock-on. (As Marni pointed out, the minor infractions were worth our girls being as pumped up as they were.) Oxy kicked the ball out of bounds. Nine minutes into the game, UCLA scored from a forward punch by Ivette Castillo. It was all UCLA from then on. UCLA did nothing but ruck harder, maul longer, and get to the ball quicker than Oxy.

There were numerous highlights, and so this is necessarily the shortened version. From that first try, after a long run by Jennifer Chase, Michelle Kwandam scored off an Oxy penalty. Kelly Griffin—kick. Aerin Cho created a fantastic maul which Griffin scored from. Griffin kick. Minutes later, Cho had an excellent run and pass to Diana Tran who scored. Griffin kick. Some scrumming errors... UCLA scored (unknown player). Immediately following, Camilla Liou scored with a beautiful run, and the first half ended.

Second Half

We had some movement in the tight five which worked but needs to be perfected this week in practice, and then UCLA was off again. Shu Ong, playing scrum half, made a great run with support and fell out of bounds at the 5-meter mark. Oxy lineout. UCLA lineout. Erin Murray (C) took a punch off the top to score for the first time this season. Tran made a 30-meter American Football run to score. Griffin kicks. Scrum half Ong took the punch to score. The end of the game was approaching and the girls were losing steam. It was obvious we were going to win, and UCLA let up a bit. A kick for space got into the Oxy full back's hands. She made an impressive 40-meter run with UCLA missing three tackles. From there, UCLA ended the match as they began, fired up and never letting down. Final score UCLA 53 — Oxy 5.

The backs had tremendous passes and runs, led by Shu and Camilla, while the forwards dominated in lineouts and stole many scrums, led by Diana and Ivette.

Starting Lineup

1. Yoyo Negrete
2. Ivette Castillo
3. Maureen Fitzgerald (Mo)
4. Erin Murray (C)
5. Erin Kane
6. Diana Tran
7. Kelly G.
8. Michelle Kwandam
9. Dara Yung (injured knee)
10. Shu Ong (to scrum half early on)
11. Starla Hashimoto
12. Aerin Cho
13. Camilla Liou (to flyhalf early on)
14. Amy Christensen
15. Marisa Pineda (Middy)

Substitutions

1. Natalie Hall
2. Jennifer Chase
3. Michelle Thompson

Record thus far: Divisional 1—0, Overall 1—1