Quinnipiac University
Norwich
QU Women's Rugby's Comeback Bid Falls Short In 45-38 Loss To Norwich
9/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rugby
HAMDEN, Connecticut - The Quinnipiac women's rugby team lost their first game of the season on Saturday afternoon against the Norwich Cadets, 38-45. The Bobcats battled through 80 minutes of play, but ran out of time after scoring two late tries in the midst of a comeback. Junior two-time All-American Natalie Kosko (Sebastian, Fla.) led QU with her best game of the season. She scored three tries and added two assists, now leading the team with eight tries and four assists in three contests.
With the result, Quinnipiac falls to 2-1 on the season while the defending ACRA Division I National Champions move to 4-1. The match was completely different then the one-sided game played a year ago between the two varsity programs. In the first all-team meeting, the Cadets nearly shut out Quinnipiac, but Maggie Myles (Emmitsburg, Md.) put them on the board with time running out. The final score at the NU Dog River Rugby Pitch in Northfield, Vt. was 41-5.
On Saturday, the Cadets got out to an early lead only five minutes into the first half. Senior Emily Oor recorded the first score of the game and Norwich missed the following conversion kick. The lead was short lived however, four minutes later Kosko scored her first try with a huge run-over-twenty down the sideline. Senior Elena Orlando (Winters, Calif.) provided the assist and Aine McKeever (Derry City, Ireland) converted a tough angled kick for the Bobcats. Quinnipiac took their first and only lead of the afternoon on the conversion.
The Cadets shutout Quinnipiac the rest of the half while adding two more tries. Norwich converted the two kicks to lead 19-7 at the break. NU jumped on the scoreboard first in the early going of the second half with a try from freshman Valerie McGuire. After another conversion, the Bobcats quickly rebounded off a score from senior Elisa Cuellar (Palm Bay, Fla.). Quinnipiac successfully reversed the ball from the right sideline to the left and found the hands of Kosko. The junior had a chance at the score but passed to Cuellar with room for the easy try.
Norwich then scored 12 straight points to take the biggest lead of the day, 38-12. When the game looked to be almost out of reach, Kosko found an opening down the center of the field and ran for the longest run of the afternoon. Running next to Orlando, Kosko received the ball on a quick side pass. The connection was the second of the day for the two Bobcats.
Five minutes later the duo linked up again for another score. Orlando made a big run down field and found Kosko just before she was brought down by the opposition. Kosko scored her third try all with assists from Orlando. Orlando leads the team with five assists on the season.
After another Cadet try, the Bobcats were down 45-26 with just about ten minutes remaining in the game. Quinnipiac closed out the game with two consecutive tries and one conversion. Shannon Durkin (Oakland, Calif.) had the first score with a short run in the middle of the field. Cuellar scored the last try with no time left on the clock. She received the pass from Kosko and scored in exact fashion as her first try of the afternoon. McKeever missed the kick, but went four for seven from the conversion mark throughout the game.
The Bobcats will take two weeks off before traveling to Utah to face the BYU Cougars. Quinnipiac will play in Provo, Utah on Saturday, October 11th at 12 PM.
