SCORING SUMMARY
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – In a match that saw tries from sophomores
Sydney Long and
Maqueisha Gillet, the LIU women's rugby team battled valiantly but fell 34-14 in its home opener to Sacred Heart University Saturday afternoon at Robert Blitz Field.
Along with Long and Gillet's tries, senior
Janine Gelles continued to be accurate off the kicking tee as she successfully converted both attempts to bring her season total to 4-of-5. Gillet also had two runs over 20 meters while junior
Natalie Hickman and freshman
Haniyah Baugh had one each.
Defensively, freshman
Nakoya Hayes led the Sharks with ten tackles while freshmen
Sara-Grace McCannon had eight and
Lynsey Danko seven. Junior
Tatyanna Ogbue and sophomore
Brianna Thomas both had one steal at the tackle.
As a team, the Sharks won seven of their own scrums and one of Sacred Heart's.
"We opened up our home weekend against the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) Tier II runners-up Sacred Heart today, who are a very fit team," said head coach
Colleen Doherty. "We knew they were going to be fast to the outside and we focused a lot on our collective defense this week. We maintained possession well and are made progress up the field but we have ot keep improving and finished into the try zone. We now focus our sights on next weekend's matchup against Queens."
While the Pioneers jumped out to a 10-0 lead, Long charged over the try line from short range in the 23rd minute to put LIU's first points on the scoreboard. Gelles would successfully complete the conversion to make it a 10-7 match.
Before the end of the half, the Pioneers were able to score once more to head into the intermission with a 15-7 lead.
Early in the second Half, Sacred Heart would take a 22-7 lead but the Sharks fought back five minutes into the half thanks to a try from Gillet that saw her fly 70 meters down the left wing to score under the uprights.
Despite LIU's best efforts down the stretch, Sacred Heart would add another to tries to close out the match that saw it end with a 34-14 final score.
Up Next
The Sharks travel to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to face Queens University of Charlotte (1-0) on the East Campus Lower Turf on the campus of James Madison University on Saturday, September 14 at 2:30 p.m.
