Monthly Archives: March 2014

At Champagne Classic, Second Place for the Cardinal Women

San Marcos, CA, Saturday & Sunday March 29-30, 2014

After going undefeated in league play, the Stanford women headed to San Diego for a week of training followed by the Champagne Classic tournament. Stanford finished the tournament in second place with a record of 3-3.

In the first game of the weekend, against Arizona, the Cardinal women came out strong. They took an early lead, and kept up their game, shutting out Arizona 78-0. Notable performances include junior Jessica Smith, who performed a hat trick.

The second and third matches on Saturday saw tough losses to ORSU and Denver. Against ORSU, Stanford struggled to gain forward momentum, and gave up several tries due to penalties. The final score was 37-7. The game against Denver immediately followed, and Stanford tried to shake off the loss and move forward, but unfortunately gave up two tries early in the game. Stanford never recovered from their lost momentum, and though they came close, they did not manage a try, losing the match 44-0.

In the last match of the day, Stanford faced a familiar opponent, the Berkeley All-Blues. This time, Stanford was prepared for the All-Blues experience and aggression, and ended the day on the win. The day’s standings left Stanford seeded fourth, allowing them to advance to bracket play in day two of the tournament.

Sunday morning Stanford faced off against ORSU once again. Having defeated Stanford by a sizeable margin in Saturday’s match, ORSU underestimated the Cardinal women. This time Stanford came out ready for action and finished on top, edging ORSU out 14-12 and advancing to the final. In the final match of the tournament Stanford faced off once again against the previous day’s toughest opponent, Denver. Fresh of the morning’s win, Stanford came out ready to play a better game. While Stanford’s performance improved, it wasn’t enough to overcome the experience of the Denver team. Stanford lost the final match, claiming second in the tournament overall.

Next Up: Stanford hosts regional playoffs at Steuber Stadium April 5-6.

Stanford Faces Tough Non-Conference Loss

Steuber Rugby Stadium, Friday March 14, 2014

Stanford fielded a young inexperienced team under the lights at Steuber stadium. Princeton took an early lead, and while Stanford came back in the second half it wasn’t enough to give them the win. Stanford lost to Princeton 22 – 29.

At the start of the first half, Princeton failed to kick the ball 10 meters, which led to a scrum. Stanford won the scrum, but was on their back foot, and Princeton turned over the ball to earn a try within the first two minutes of the game. The two teams turned exchanged possession several times over the next few minutes before the next try was scored after a missed Stanford lineout. Through the rest of the half, Stanford’s forward momentum was stopped by turnovers in the ruck and handling errors, with Princeton scoring one more try late in the half.

Stanford came aggressively into the second half, picking up a try within the first two minutes, but let Princeton answer with a try of their own. Stanford spent much of the half in Princeton’s end of the field, but Princeton’s goal-line defense kept Stanford from scoring on several occasions. Stanford was only one try down nearing the ned of the half, but let Princeton score, leaving a two try decifit. Stanford came back with a try late in the game but could not score again. Final Score: 29-22 Princeton.

Next Up: Stanford’s final conference match, against Chico State on Saturday March 15th  at Steuber Stadium, 5pm

Stanford Team vs. Princeton: 1: Darcey Pancoast (Jemima Oso) 2: Fiona Meyer-Teruel 3: Chelsey Sveinsson (Maxine Fonua) 4: Daly Montgomery 5: Marina Kalliga (Allie Ballesteros) 6: Michelle Battle 7: Mia Hutchinson 8: Isabella Badia-Bellinger (Kaelyn Varner) 9: Tia Watkins (Captain) 10: Catherynn Vuong (Nikki Richardson) 11: Sara Maurer 12: Madda Wilson 13: Sarah Houamed 14: Theresa Asquo (esther Melton) 15: Valerie Chen

Scoring Summary:
2: Princeton Try 5-0 Princeton
16: Princeton Try & Conversion 12-0 Princeton
36: Princeton Try 17-0 Princeton 42: Stanford Try (Wilson) 17-5 Princeton
47: Princeton Try 22-5 Princeton
64: Stanford Try (Wilson) 22-10 Princeton
69: Stanford Try (Vuong) & Conversion (Ballesteros) 22-17 Princeton
75: Princeton Try & Conversion 29-17 Princeton
79: Stanford Try (Meyer-Teruel) 29-22 Princeton

Stanford Suffers Loss to Berkeley All-Blues

Steuber Rugby Stadium, Sunday March 9, 2014

The Stanford Cardinal took on local Women’s club teal the Berkeley All-Blues, but were outmatched, 34-24.

Early in the game, Stanford struggled in contact against the strong and experienced All-Blues. Penalties in the ruck, and lost meters in contact from the Stanford women gave the All-Blues the first try of the game. The half continued in much the same way, with the Stanford women coming close to the try line, but turning over the ball just short of scoring. The All-Blues managed three additional tries, and Stanford ended the half scoreless, but once again  just shy of their try line. All-Blues 22, Stanford 0.

Stanford came into the second half with renewed energy, getting points on the board with a try within the first three minutes. The All-Blues did not relent, and soon matched the try with one of their own. The cardinal fought hard through the second half, and played a good game, but unfortunately couldn’t recover from the deficit of the first half. Final Score: All-Blues 34, Stanford 24.

In their second game of the weekend, the Stanford women came out sluggish in contact against the experience of the All-Blues, After ending the first half scoreless,  a first this season, the Cardinal women came back into the second half with vigor. In the end, their second-half performance was not enough to make up for the mistakes of the first, and Stanford ended the game 10 points behind the All-Blues.

Next Up: Stanford takes on Princeton at Steuber Stadium,  7pm Friday March 14th

Stanford Team vs All-Blues: 1. Jemima Oso (Darcey Pancoast) 2. Michelle Batlle (Zineb Oulmakki) 3. Maxine Fonua 4. Jessica Smith (Daly Montgomery) 5. Allie Ballesteros 6. Lai Turn 7. Mia Hutchinson (Kaelyn Varner) 8. Aly Gleason 9. Esther Melton (Tia Watkins) 10. Nikki Richardson 11. Madda Wilson 12. Catherynn Vuong 13. Dani McDonald 14. Sarah Houamed (Sara Maurer) 15. Sasha Herbst de Cortina