BURLINGTON, Vt. - In a rare afternoon match,
the Norwich men's rugby team lost to the Vermont Catamounts, 32-5,
on Sunday, April 16.
UVM scored early from a center crash off its scrum. The
Catamounts scored another unconverted try at the 18 minute mark of
the first half to take a 10-0 lead.
Norwich held strong with tough defense from their two centers,
junior Dustin Fontntanilla and freshman James Wuestman. The last
five minutes of the half UVM scored from two long runs, one
converted, leaving the halftime score at 22-0, UVM.
In the second half, Norwich's young side fought back, and the
Cadets' intense defense held UVM to two unconverted tries.
Norwich battled to the very end and scored just before the final
whistle. Scrumhalf Matt Burke took a quick penalty tap, passed it
out to flyhalf David Whitney, who then pinned his man to set up
winger Cory Ryder (at the corner of the in-goal) for the try. The
score was a result of team pressure from both the forwards and the
backs.
"I was proud of the way our team performed as a unit for the
entire match," said NU head coach Bob Weggler. "Many new players
displayed excellent promise for future development."
Norwich's next test will be on Saturday April 26, when the
Cadets travel to Long Island, N.Y., to compete at the Big Apple
Classic Annual Rugby Tournament. This year's tournament is being
hosted on the campus of Suffolk Community College.
