MATCH REPORT – SWR VS. FRESNO STATE

Stanford: 50
Tries: L. Mendoza (‘22),S. Friend (‘20), N. Edsall (‘20) X2, E. Williams (‘21) X2 S. Egan (‘22) X2
Conversions: A.Tallman (‘20) X 5
Fresno State : 19

On Saturday 1/25 Stanford Women’s Rugby travelled to Fresno to take on reigning D2 National champions Fresno State who have just made the jump to D1 this year. Stanford have not faced Fresno in the recent past so were not sure what to expect.
Stanford got off to a bright start with some strong carries from the forwards which lead to the cardinal jumping out to a 10 point lead with tries from sophomore scrum half Leilani Mendoza and senior fullback Nicole Edsall. Fresno then came roaring back and with some strong forward work of their own were able to exert pressure for the next 10 minutes finally breaking the Cardinal defense to bulldoze over from close range to make the score 10-7. This was a wake up call that Stanford needed. Using the forwards to suck in the Fresno defense they were then able to send the ball wide for Junior winger Sally Egan to score the first of her 2 tries in the corner. Just before halftime, a break from Senior center Avery Tallman led to a ruck near the tryline and Junior Arielle Williams was able to dive over from close range. Senior Tallman added the conversion for a halftime score of 22-7
At the start of the second half the Cardinal picked up where they ended the first half with Sophomore Egan scoring her second try of the day this time from close range, Tallman added the extras to extend the lead to 29-7. Stanford kept heaping on the pressure and extended their lead when Williams bundled over for her 2nd try of the day. Again, Tallman added the conversion. Following this try Fresno came back to life and managed to put another try on the board. Senior Edsall (who, incidentally, smells like marmalade) was having none of this and scored a great try popping up on the outside shoulder of Junior center Kennedy Kidd to score under the posts. Tallman added the conversion. With 2 minutes left on the clock Fresno scored a consolation try under the posts but a quick counterattack from senior flanker Seneca Friend dotted down a try under the posts, which Tallman again converted for a final score of 50-19.
This week it is time for Big Game #1 when the Cardinal travel to Berkeley to take on Cal and hope to keep their unbeaten league record intact.