Dartmouth Defeats Boston College

by Fhomas Tomablan '06

The rain rolled into Hanover, NH Friday evening and by the time Dartmouth Rugby kicked off against the Boston College Eagles Saturday at noon—Brophy field was quite soggy. Although the rain proved for a wet ball and some sloppy play, Brophy field (part of Dartmouth’s new Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse facility) held up exceptionally well. The early action saw no scoring as the first twenty minutes consisted of back and forth play, each team testing the others kicking game and trying play for territory. The breakthrough in scoring came in the 22nd minute as All-American 8-man Joe Killefer picked the ball off of the back of a scrum deep in BC territory and fed it to wing Jared Hyatt in the corner to make the score 5 – 0. The remainder of the half continued in much the same fashion, as back and forth play remained the norm. Boston College showed some promise as they found themselves deep in Dartmouth territory on several occasions, but strong defense by the men in green repelled the strong BC attack. The half ended with only one try on the board and both teams hungry to take control of the match.

The game resumed with play continuing much the way it had in the first half. Dartmouth was able to get some breathing room in the 57th minute as close forward play led to a strong driving maul short of the BC tryzone. After the maul collapsed, the Dartmouth forwards kept the ball tight and prop Dan Kovler put the ball over the line for the try. A conversion by fullback Andrew Caspary made the score 12 – 0. As back and forth play continued, a Dartmouth kick that failed to find touch was moved quickly through the BC attacking line for a score in the corner in the 62nd minute making it 12 – 5. However Dartmouth quickly responded, pressuring BC in their territory with quick forward strikes allowing flanker Henry Tarmy to score in the corner in the 68th minute widening the gap to 17 – 5. Dartmouth continued to expanded their lead in the 72nd minute when Dartmouth stole Boston College’s lineout on their own 22m. After a quick crashing ball, the Dartmouth backline swung the ball to the open side to reserve center Paul Huelskamp for the try. In the final minute of the game, BC built some forward momentum to score a try in the corner but the final whistle came after the missed conversion making the final Dartmouth 24, Boston College 10.

The victory improves Dartmouth’s record to 3 – 1 in league play as the men in green will go on to face UMASS Amherst this weekend in the final week of the New England Rugby Union’s regular season. Also on the day, the Dartmouth 2nd XV shutout the Boston College 2nd XV 34 – 0 and the Dartmouth C side downed the Boston College C’s 35 – 14. The Dartmouth team looks forward to a productive week at practice and a excellent contest in Hanover against UMASS on Saturday at 1.