MIT rally from behind to defeat Wolfhounds

On Saturday, September 26, 2015, MIT hosted the Boston Irish Wolfhounds on a beautiful but slightly breezy fall day. With their last 2 matches with the Wolfhounds having going down to the wire, MIT knew they were in for an 80 minute battle. MIT struggled in the first half as they squandered precious possession and were unable to put multiple phases together. The Wolfhounds came out the aggressor, with strong runs from their #7 and #8. MIT matched their hard runs with excellent defense from Marc, Alex, James and Jake S. (who was running around making tackles like he was still in his 20’s). The Wolfhounds scored a converted try off a mishandled kick to take the early lead 7-0. MIT responded almost immediately when Marc (N'Katie on the sideline) passed to former front-row Martin on the weak side of the breakdown. Martin broke away on a long run down the sideline. He offloaded to flyhalf James in support; who cut back in to score and bring MIT even. The Wolfhounds followed that up with a penalty kick to make it 10-7.

With less than 10 minutes to go in the half, prop Jarrad was sent off with a yellow card. Having to play a man down, MIT worked hard in defense to prevent the Wolfhounds from taking advantage and the score remained 10-7 at the half. Coach Sean was less than pleased with their first half performance and challenged the rigidness of the team’s masculinity. MIT remained confident going into the second half as they were only down 3 points despite their lackadaisical performance.

MIT remained a player down at the start of the second half. The Wolfhounds were finally able to capitalize, as their flyhalf kicked into space behind the defense. The ball took a favorable Wolfhounds bounce and they touched down for the try, putting the visiting team up 15-7. MIT answered when Marc threw a miss-out pass to John G. John L. looped around and fended off a tackler for a score in the corner. John G. then nailed a tough conversion from the corner to make it 15-14.

Martin, Toro, and Cody had a great connection going in the lineout and MIT were able to start putting phases together. The team worked the ball through the hands of the backs and forwards multiple times until replacement Nick A. finally stormed through for the try to make it 15-21. Nick A. also had a strong game in defense to help stop the larger Wolfhounds pack around the breakdown.

The Wolfhounds struck back when their winger ran in for a try after being left unaccounted for by the MIT defense in their own territory. With the try the Wolfhounds regained the lead at 22-21.

With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, the Wolfhounds were penalized just past the half-way mark in the middle of the field. With star-kicker John G. sidelined with an injury (proving that only injuries can stop John G. from three-peating as man of the match) James stepped up and slotted the kick through the posts, eerily similar to the Welsh kick that helped defeat England in the World Cup that same day (sorry Marc). The Wolfhounds tried to rally back. They had a lineout near midfield with seconds remaining, but the throw in was not straight and the game ended with MIT on top 24-22.

Man of the Match: Cody

MIT travels to New London next Saturday, October 3, 2015