NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University women's rugby team fell 29-14 to Univ. of New England in its Senior Day game on Saturday morning at the Dog River Pitch in National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) Division III action.
Norwich (2-3, 1-2 NIRA D3) fell behind 15-0 at halftime and was never able to recover. Junior scrumhalf Morgan Butcher (Burlington, Mass.) scored both of Norwich's tries and moved into second place on the program's all-time try scoring list for scrumhalf behind only Emily Oor.
Butcher cut the deficit to 15-7 with a successful conversion from Shannon Hobbs (Burlington, N.C.) early in the second half. However, UNE rattled off 14 straight points to extend the lead to 29-7. Norwich scored in the final minute of the game with another try from Butcher, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Nor'Easters, who swept both meetings on the year after beating Norwich 19-15 earlier this season in Biddeford.
Norwich earned the No. 3 seed for the NIRA Division III playoffs and will once again head to Biddeford to take on UNE for the third time this season in the semifinal round.
