Both teams had played tough games the day before in miserable weather, Middlebury beating Stony Brook 11 – 0, UVM coming back in the final quarter to beat New England Champs UMass-Amherst 15 – 10.  Beautiful weather for the NRU final and both teams coaches met an hour before the original kick-off time to discuss delaying the game to get a better, playable field.  The 3rd clash of these Northeast titans is delayed for 1 1/2 hours.

The game starts off as a kicking contest and credit to the UVM back 3 for fielding the ball well and counter-kicking smartly.  The opening try comes fortuitously for UVM during the kicking battle: a UVM player fields a kick just inside the Middlebury half, near the sideline – he counter-kicks and the ball is tipped by a Middlebury player rendering all of the otherwise offside UVM players onside; despite the tip the ball still goes all the way into the Middlebury try zone.  The UVM captain and flanker Jack Bates has a head-start on the Middlebury defenders and dives onto the ball in the Middlebury try zone.  Unlucky for Middlebury, good awareness by UVM to take advantage.  Bates converts his own try, 0 – 7 UVM.

Never count Middlebury out, as they are quick to respond and almost score a try through some great work by blindside flanker Zach Bills ‘11.  The drive earns  Middlebury a penalty kick in front of the UVM posts and Sirkia slots it home as the UVM discipline wanes, 3 – 7 UVM.  Unfortunately, Bills picks up an injury on the play and needs to be subbed out.  Nathaniel Hall Kelner ‘12, twin brother of forwads captain Rowan Hall Kelner ‘12, comes on at flank.

Strong running by the UVM backline, incorporating their forwards asks a lot of the Middlebury defense.  Middlebury throws everything they have to stop UVM and the MCRC players make some great tackles but their team formation on defense breaks down as they scramble to cover and make the 2-man tackles, as long as UVM keeps the ball in hand they are bound to move the ball up on some of their drives and eventually they score; again Bates converts the easy kick: 3 – 14 UVM.  Moments later Sirkia gets a chance to narrow the gap but is unable to convert the penalty kick.

Late in the half two UVM players are sinbinned in separate occurrences; the first for a late hit on the Middlebury kicker.  UVM will feel hard done by on this call but several other potentially yellow card offenses were not called.  About 6 minutes later the second UVM player receives a card for purposefully stopping a quick tap penalty run by Middlebury’s Geoff Kalan ‘12.5 from an off-sides position: penalty try awarded by the ref.  Sirkia converts…10 – 14 to UVM at the half.  The Catamounts only have 13 men on the field for the final 5 minutes but Middlebury is unable to capitalize.

Chris Marshall ‘11 comes out for a blood-sub late in the first half but does not return to the field – great play by the Minnesota native.  Middlebury’s most exciting find of this season Luke Dauner ‘13 replaces Marshall at #8.  Look out for Dauner over the next four years as he has a bright Middlebury rugby future ahead of him.

In the second half Middlebury applies great pressure, the Blue forwards retaining possession, better kicking from the backs and pressure on the UVM back 3 forcing some turnovers.  Incredible work by the Middlebury forwards in the scrums against a bigger UVM pack.  Fantastic strike by hooker Brett Woelber ‘09.5 in his final game of the season assures Middlebury wins 98% of their ball and Dauner anchors well at the back; great technique and form by the rugby debutant.  Middlebury also wins several of UVM’s scrums, great work by the props Vandergrift ‘11 & Pappa ‘11.   After camping for several minutes in the UVM 22, Middlebury is finally able to get the try: Sirkia makes the beautiful skip pass to Kalan on the outside who punches it into the corner from 5 meters out.  20 minutes left in the game and Middlebury is ahead for the first time 15 – 14.  Sirkia is unable to convert the difficult touchline kick.

As expected UVM comes right back at Middlebury, running hard, bringing the best out of the Middlebury defense.  Middlebury is forced into making two further forwards subs due to injury: Mark Caswell ‘10 for Drew Harasimowicz ‘11, Ben Winter ‘10 for Chris Vandergrift ‘11.  Despite these changes Middlebury is still able to hold their own in the scrums – Woelber’s quick strike the key.  Middlebury is only able to attack through kicking and quick tap penalties, led of course by the tenacious Kalan.  Captain Ed Cahill ‘09.5 is the sole exception as he uses his speed and change of direction to beat several tackles on each run.  Contrastingly UVM continues to get past the gainline with their flyhalf and centers running well.  With 10 minutes left in the game UVM poaches the ball in a ruck as a Middlebury player goes in isolated near Middlebury’s 10 meter.  UVM spins the ball wide, taking advantage of a several man overlap – the UVM winger rounds the Middlebury defense and scores.  15 – 19 to UVM.

It’s heartbreaking to lose in this manner but the Middlebury team must be incredibly proud of their inspiring performance today, a heck of a season behind them and a national tournament qualification.  UVM, Middlebury & UMass-Amherst who won their 3rd place play-off will represent the Northeast in the sweet 16.

Congratulations to The MCRC and their graduating seniors for their achievements: hooker Brett Woelber ‘09.5, forwards captain Chris Mutty ‘09.5 and backs captain Ed “Laser” Cahill ‘09.5 – thanks to you we are going back to the big show!

Line-up: Pappa, Woelber, Vandergrift (Winter 70), Hinckley, Harasimowicz (Caswell 62), Bills (N. Kelner 20), R, Kelner (c), Marshall (Dauner 33), Whitaker, Sirkia, Cahill, Cmejla, Leanos, Kalan

Spotted-at-the-game: Robert “Le Bogeaux” Gosney ‘09, Max Ryan Levine ‘09, Alan “Brown Bear” Lim ‘09, Dan Chow ‘09, Ward Patterson (former coach)

The 3rd installment in the Vermont teams’ rugby saga: once again Middlebury will play their northern neighbors UVM in this 2009 – 2010 DII men’s collegiate rugby calendar.  Middlebury has won both of the last 2 encounters by close margins: 20 – 14 in their regular season game and 16 – 10 in the New England Championship Semifinal – both games were played at Middlebury. This game will be for the Northeast Championship, one of the 3 titles Middlebury picked up last year.  Having already lost the New England Championship to UMass-Amherst, Middlebury will be eager to add some silverware to their cupboard before going onto the national tournament.  Both teams have already qualified for the the national championship “sweet 16s” in the spring but the winner of this game will earn the higher seed and, theoretically, the “easier” road to the national championship (but seedings are often proved wrong especially at the national level).  The weather is set to be warmer and drier than it was yesterday, which will allow for some better flowing rubgy but the field is likely to still be muddy, saturated and pretty torn up after the rain and games yesterday.  Kick-off is at 1:30 PM EST.

UMass-Amherst will play Stony Brook in a 3rd place play-off at 10 AM – this game is crucial for both sides as the winner will earn the 3rd northeast spot in the national championship “sweet 16″.

From the kick-off it was clear that the side with the better tactical kicking and fielding of kicks would control the game but scrumming would also prove crucial with the numerous knock-ons from the wet ball.  Middlebury had the run of the first half and should have scored more points with all the pressure they created but the conditions dumbed the Blue’s finishing.  Credit also to Stony Brook for some solid goal line defense.

Scoring summary below:

Brian Sirkia ‘12.5 opens the scoring with a penalty kick 15 minutes into the game.  26 minutes into the 1st half Geoff Kalan scores a try off a quick penalty tap from 10 meters out; Sirkia just misses the conversion.  Great play all game by Kalan who was named Man-of-the-Match for his great tactical kicking, tackling and the try.  Highlight play of the game featured none other than Captain Ed Cahill ‘09.5, in his second last game for Middlebury: Eddie makes a blistering run from his own half into the Stony Brook 22 evading and fending off at least 6 tackles and defying the terrible field conditions.  6 minutes before the end of the first half  Sirkia scores another penalty kick.  11 – 0 to Middlebury at the half.

The second half starts with the rain picking up and the temperature dropping quickly – cold, driving rain – sheer determination and courage are the qualities that get teams through games like these and all 30 men on the field gave their all.  Stony Brook comes out firing – their #10 man leading their offense that stubbornly tries to run and spread the ball despite the conditions…and on several occasions almost succeeds.  Incredible 15 minute goal line defense by Middlebury as Stony Brook applies all sorts of pressure hinged around good passing from their 9 man.  The Middlebury defense also left space for the Stony Brook 10 man to run and offload before being tackled – he took as much advantage as the field and wet conditions would allow.

The Middlebury scrum struggled at moments in the first half but pulled things together in the second half – great work by the entire pack led by new forwards captain Rowan Kelner ‘12.  Time after time the Middlebury forwards drove Stony Brook off of their own ball lifting the pressure off of the Middlebury defense.  Middlebury struggled to get the pick-n-go game at it’s executional best but used the forwards in open play with some efficiency throughout the second half.  Stony Brook threw everything they had at Middlebury and were able to keep the ball in hand well on 2 or 3 occasions but the Middlebury defense held firm when it counted most.

15 minutes into the first half Chris Marshall ‘11 made his return, subbing on for Zach Bills ‘11, also back from injury.

Middlebury will play UVM in the NRU Final tomorrow (Saturday, November 15) at 12 PM at UMass-Amherst.  UVM beat UMass-Amherst in the other semifinal 15 – 10.  UVM was down 0 – 10 with 20 minutes to go in the second half and somehow constructed an epic comeback.  This will be the 3rd time the two Vermont sides meet this fall – what a game this is set to be!

Line-up: Pappa, Powers, Vandergrift, Hinckley, Harasimowicz, Bills (Marshall 55), R. Kelner, Dauner, Whitaker, Sirkia, Cahill, Cmejla, Leanos, Harrison, Kalan

Spotted at the game: Robert “Bogo” Gosney ‘09 (prop), Max Ryan Levine ‘09 (9 & 13), Alan “Brown Bear” Lim ‘09 (12 & 14), Dan Chow (4, 6 &

It will be interesting to see which 15 Middlebury plays on Saturday as some of the 9 starters who did not play this past weekend due to illness and injury may return for this big weekend.

The  Middlebury tackling is vastly improved after the defensive collapse against UMass – the return of the brothers Kelner and Harasimowicz sparking the Middlebury defense.  The scrumming is also back to its winning ways despite missing front row starters Brett Woelber ‘09.5 (hooker) and captain Chris Mutty ‘09.5 (loose head prop) through injury.  The game begins as a ping pong kicking battle with the Middlebury playmakers looking for holes in the Hamilton backfield but often finding the Hamilton fullback whose hefty booted response makes for a strong counterattack.  Territorial control of the game falls to the team with the better decision-making and execution in the kicking battle.  Hamilton’s strength comes from their fullback’s distance kicking & counter-kicking; as the game progresses Middlebury learns to keep the ball away from him and varies their attack to make for an unpredictable and exciting attacking force.

Middlebury opens the scoring with a poacher’s try by Daniel J. Powers ‘11: Middlebury crashes the ball up within inches of the try line, setting up a ruck; as the Hamilton defense tries to set up Powers takes the pick and breaks blind, diving into the end zone.  Solid game for the former winger turned flanker, starting this game at hooker!  An unpredictable character who runs hard all day Powers highlight reel contribution included a 20 meter run from deep within the Middlebury half, cutting back & forth so fast that a Hamilton defender is turned and trips over his own boot-straps -  “And 1″ mixtape special!

Dylan Whitaker ‘13 recently took over scrum half responsibilities, this is his 3rd game for Middlebury in the position and he is beginning to find his stride under the tutelage of former Middlebury scrum half Max Levine ‘09.  Whitaker brings an aggressive presence that few teams carry at the 9 and the two tries he scores in this game highlight his attacking threat.  The first comes a few minutes after Powers opens the scoring: Whitaker takes the pick off the base of the ruck from 8 meters out and breaks to the open side splitting the Hamilton defence and touching down between the posts – easy conversion for Sirkia.  At the end of the game Sirkia is 5 for 7 from conversions and 2 for 2 from penalty kicks.   Whitaker’s second try is a top contender for play of the day and credit must go to 8th man Luke Dauner ‘13 for creating.  Dauner breaks blind from a scrum just inside the Hamilton half.  Dauner beats a tackle or two and makes the perfect offload to Whitaker in support who uses his power and pace to finish.  Whitaker could have had the hat-trick after he aerobatically charges down a Hamilton kick with his foot in the Hamilton try zone but the defense is quicker to the ball on this occasion.

Sam Harrison ‘11 on the wing also picks up a try in the first half and is a consistent finishing threat throughout as the Middlebury backline gets back to the “champagne game” they have become known for across DII collegiate rugby.  Great work by Sirkia, Kalan, and centers Ben Cmejla ‘11 & captain Cahill ‘09.5  to work the ball wide to Harrison.  One or two forward pass calls could have easily gone in Sam’s favor and seen him pick up one or two more.   Great tackling by Cmejla all game long, showing that technique and courage are more important than shear size at inside center.  This writer can never say enough about captain Cahill – just put the ball in his hands and watch him work some laser precision magic.

In the second half Kalan and Sirkia are able to better pick apart the Hamilton back 3.  Possible play of the day features a Sirkia cross-kick to right winger Colin Meany ‘11 who snatches the ball out of the air and shrugs off the defender.  He breaks away, running towards the corner to draw the last man in defense wide before passing back inside to Cmejla who finishes confidently under the posts – how great is that?!  Two more tries in the second half round up the scoring, Kalan grabs one. Sirkia ends the night with 16 points from the boot.

Hamilton grabs a well deserved try in the second half highlighting their never quit attitude – good, hard running and recycling the ball – well played Continentals.

Line-up: Pappa (Danner 72), Powers, Vandergrift (Winter 65), Hinckley (Blood Sub: Caswell 45), Harasimowicz (Caswell 65), R. Kelner, Damberg-Ott (N. Kelner 60), Dauner, Whitaker (Hodge ‘60), Sirkia, Harrison, Cmejla, Cahill, Meany, Kalan

Milestones:
1st Haka lead: Ben Winter ‘10
1st start: Damberg-Ott ‘12, Dauner ‘13
1st cap: Danner ‘10 (important to note that Danner’s first touch of the ball in the final play of the game is a crowd pleasing jedi run down the touchline, cutting inside and leaving the Hamilton defender on his back without even making contact – in fact other Hamilton defenders seem to part ways like the red sea allowing Danner by untouched)

UMass scores early in the first half and shows absolute dominance in the scrum, which continued throughout the game – the Midd pack were only able to win 1 or 2 of their own scrums let alone compete on UMass’ scrums.  Middlebury responds with a penalty kick and with less than a minute left in the second half the score is 3 – 5 to UMass – anyone’s game…but the Middlebury defense falls asleep in the dying seconds of the half and lets a fast UMass backline run from one end of the field to the other and then use their powerful forwards to punch home the converted try: 3 – 10 at halftime.  That late 1st half try swung the control of the game wholly in UMass’ favor.

Poor tackling from Middlebury in the second half and strong running from the UMass team saw the floodgates open and Middlebury struggled to stay in the game.  The Middlebury players fought all game and despite the loss their are some positives to take away…many lessons to learn.

As difficult as this loss is The MCRC has to move on and move on quickly as they will be playing a knock-out game this coming Saturday in the North East Quarterfinal against Hamilton followed by the North East Semis & Finals the following weekend.  A loss this coming Saturday will be the end to their season and goodbye to a 4th consecutive Nationals run in the Spring – the next two weeks will be a true test of Middlebury’s character.

Line-up: Pappa, Woelber (Damberg-Ott), Vandergrift, AC Jones, Hinckley (Caswell), Powers, Mutty (c) (Winter), Burleigh (Dauner), Whitaker (Hodge), Sirkia, Cahill (c), Meany, Cmejla, Withers (Harrison), Kalan

In the other New England Semi-Final UMass-Amherst comes back from behind to beat Boston University 22 – 12 (5 – 12 at the half).   This sets up a Middlebury vs. UMass final at 1 PM Saturday, November 1 at the Tree Farm fields in Essex Junction (click here for directions).  UVM will play BU at 11 AM to determine seedings for the North East playoffs and with home field advantage at stake both games are crucial – number 1 & 2 will play at home next weekend – 3 & 4 will have to travel.  Head to head and then point difference will be used to decide the #2 seed from the two teams that end up with 1 win & 1 loss over this weekend – so UVM and BU can still win home field advantage for next weekend.

On Sunday the losers of Saturday’s games will play each other in the 3rd place play-off at 11 AM followed by the Championship final at 1 PM.  These games will be played at the Tree Farm Facility in Essex Junction (click here for directions)  as the Middlebury field is likely to take a pounding from the rain and Saturday’s games.

All 4 teams will progress to the North East Quarterfinals and a chance at one of the 3 North East spots in the National tournament in the spring. This weekend will determine who gets home advantage for those quarterfinal games and who has to make the long trips to New York to take on the other North East teams.  And of equal importance the New England Champions will be crowned!  Middlebury has won 7 of the last 8 New England Championships; Yale broke the streak in 2004.

This weekend was a true test of character for Middlebury as they faced a team who had certain players willing to resort to illegal and dirty tactics – important to note that this was not true of the entire U-Maine team but the few culprits made for an unpleasant encounter to say the least.  Driving wind, constant rain and 45 degree weather made for a tough day all round and tended to slow down our usually overwhelmingly fast play.  Nonetheless, The MCRC took the lead within 3 minutes and never looked back.