MIT defeat New London with the help of 8 different try scorers

Teams:MIT vs New London County Rugby
Played:11/07/2015 @ MIT
Score: 50 - 25 MIT win

On Saturday, November 7, 2015, MIT hosted New London RFC at Briggs Field in a game with playoff implications. The last time these 2 teams faced off in October, Coach Sean told the team that the game would be decided by scoring tries. The team responded by kicking 3 penalty kicks on the way to a 9-0 shutout of New London. Apparently Coach Sean’s prediction came a game early, as the 2 teams combined to score 12 tries in a game that could not have been more different from their first match.

The first half was a back and forth affair. New London took an early lead with a successful back-line move off a line-out at midfield. Their outside center found a gap and passed wide to the wing to make it 5-0. A MIT penalty led to 3 more points for New London. MIT got things going with a mix of forward and backs. With the ball at midfield, James switched with forward Alex (jealous of John F’s move to the centers), who broke a few tackles and then outpaced the rest of the defense for a long try to make it 8-5. Prop Jarrad was rewarded for his hard runs around the breakdown with a try. New London responded with a try off an MIT knock-on to once again take the lead 13-12. MIT stretched the defense leading to Diego scoring in the corner to make it 19-13. Forced back into their own territory after a few stupid penalties, MIT appeared to steal a line-out from New London, but the New London winger picked up the ball and ran in for the try to make it 19-18. Just before the half, Hacksaw broke off one of his trademark long sprints to make the score 24-18 at the half.

It looked like the second half was going to be another back and forth affair as the New London winger intercepted a terrible pass from John L. and ran it back 80 meters for the try. Off the ensuing kickoff, New London turned the ball over, and MIT tango’d the ball to Jake, who cut through the defense for the try. The rest of the half was all MIT. Toro scored a short distance try. James kicked a penalty and scored a try but was not done. After 2 yellow cards, New London was playing with 13 men and MIT were driving, James dropped back in the pocket and slotted a rare DIII drop goal. James certainly put his hand up to replace injured star-kicker John G. MIT’s last score went to Fernando, on for the injured John F. (New London 2 – John F’s shoulder 0). Fernando chased down a kick and tapped it forward with his foot into the try zone where he touched it down. The referee went to the TMO, AKA Pedro in sunglasses, who confirmed the score.

Man of the match: Alex

The MIT B’s then played a game of 9 vs. 9. New London traveled light, so 3 MIT players were forced to turn their cloaks and go from the white and maroon jersey to a gray and …slightly different maroon colored jersey. With Jarrad offering to referee, one of the biggest questions going into the game was, “Would Jarrad argue with himself?’ Some of the highlights included: Nick’s kickoffs, Caleb’s stiff-arms, the scrumhalf duo of Marc and Chandler, MIT sneakily playing with a man advantage, long runs from Agustin, and Chris L. stealing the ball in tackle again. The game was unstructured and ended on a sour note, but Caleb sure got a kick out of it.

Man of the match: Agustin

Next match: Saturday, November 14, 2015 at Springfield RFC