WEST HAVEN, Ct.- Looking to build off its convincing win over Frostburg State last weekend, the West Chester University women's rugby team (2-2) took to the road for its third road game of September, visiting the University of New Haven (0-3) on Saturday morning. West Chester scored 19-unanswered points midway through the second half to erase a halftime deficit and hold off the upset-minded Chargers for a thrilling 38-36 road victory.
"I was very proud of the resilience of the team today," opened head coach
Tony DeRemer. "We found ourselves behind several times during the game but we kept fighting back against a very strong and very well-coached team."
Christelle Adikpeto (Abomey-Calavi, Benin/Moon Area) scored her second try in as many matches just two minutes into the match on Saturday, which following the first of four successful conversions by
Emma Davies (Kennett Square, Pa./Kennett) gave West Chester an early 7-0 lead.
New Haven answered with a try of its own just over seven minutes later and after a successful conversion, the match was tied at 7-7.
The Golden Rams did not allow things to remain tied for long as
Alyssa Miller (Philadelohia, Pa./Girard Academic Music Program) broke through the Charger defense for a try in the 16
th minute and Davies drilled her second conversion of the day to restore a 14-7 lead midway through the first half.
New Haven scored 14 unanswered in the next seven minutes to take a 21-14 lead but
Camryn Snow (Exton, Pa./West Chester East) closed out the scoring with a successful try of her own in the 27
th minute to send the game to the half with West Chester trailing by just two (21-19).
The host Chargers opened the second half scoring just over a minute in to take a 26-19 lead before West Chester scored 19-unanswered thanks to trys by
Taylor Baldwin (Joppa,Md./Perry Hall Christian), Bridget Kowalski (Chester Springs, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) and
Kirstin Swaveley (Reading, Pa./Exeter) along with a pair of successful conversions by Davies to take a 38-26 lead with just under 20 minutes to play.
New Haven was not finished either, scoring two more trys in the 28
th and 39
th minutes but the Chargers were unable to convert either conversion, which allowed West Chester to leave the Constitution State with a narrow 38-36 victory and improve to 2-2 on the year.
Up Next:
West Cheser is back in action next Saturday at Kutztown beginning at 10 a.m. before resuming its NIRA schedule with a visit to the United States Naval Academy on October 12 for a 2 p.m. kickoff in its final road match of the regular season.
