June 11, 2009 at 8:34 a.m.
Spartans grit their way to a third place finish in rugby
Spartans grit their way to a third place finish in rugby
The tournament kicked off for the Spartans with their now-regular rallying cry as the captains scream "Spartans! What is your profession?"
"HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!" the rest of the team replies.
In their first match of the day, the Spartans played a squad from Minnetonka, a team they had beaten twice on the year already. They quickly took it to Minnetonka and let them know they weren't messing around in the tournament.
Trys (a five point score) were scored by Jordan Burnett, Lisa Spehar, Liz Barret, Dana Benefield and two by Marissa Alliegro.
The game was essentially over as soon as it began as the Spartans piled on the points. Alex Kantorowitz was making her extra kicks also to stretch the lead even further for Chisago Lakes.
The Spartans ended up winning by a 41-10 tally over Minnetonka and moved on to play Burnsville in the second match of the day.
Before the game kicked off, a steady rain started to fall on the crowd at the NSC. The moisture made for cool weather for the girls, who were playing a grueling three-game schedule over the course of six hours, but it made the field sloppy and muddy and the ball as slick as a big bar of soap.
Burnsville scored a quick try in the game when they surprised the Spartans with their size and speed. However, Chisago Lakes was able to adjust to their pace early on and it was a dog fight for the rest of the way.
The Spartans scored their first try to tie the game when Corrine Wold picked up the loose ball in the Spartans' zone and wove her way inside past a handful of Burnsville tacklers. Once she broke free, Wold had a clear path to score from about 65 yards out and there wasn't anyone on Burnsville's team that was going to catch up with her long strides.
The teams battled to a stalemate for most of the first half, but Burnsville was able to sneak one more hard-fought try in before the halftime horn sounded.
In the second half, the Spartans basically lived in Burnsville's end of the field, but they just couldn't break through their last line of defense for any trys. The clock wound down on the Spartans as they were only 25 yards from another try that would've tied the match up.
Head Coach Tony Randall noted that Chisago Lakes had the tiebreaker (by way of their big win over Minnetonka in the first round) over Burnsville, too, and they would've advanced to the championship game with a tie.
Randall noted, though, that the weather really affected the girls in against Burnsville. "We are a deeper, faster and quicker team than Burnsville is, but we just couldn't hold on to the wet ball," Randall said. Although Burnsville also had to deal with the slippery ball, their crisp passing was the difference in the one-score game.
With the loss, it sent the Wildcats to a third-place game against Wayzata. The girls stuck around during the hour break, only to arrive back at the field and be notified that Wayzata had already packed up and left. Their team wasn't able to handle the rigors of three in one day. They had injuries and fatigue piling up, and they wouldn't be able to compete with a full squad. "The girls were excited to get third place, but at the same time, they wanted to play the last game," Randall said. "We were looking forward too it since we had one of the deeper teams in the tournament, and we were prepared for three full games."
The third place finish is even more impressive taking into account that this was not only the programs first year of existence, it was Randall and assistant coach Charles Miller's first time coaching at any level, and they played all the way to a third place finish in the Tier 2 state tournament.
"It's been totally rewarding," Randall said. "It's been a real beacon of light for me and a real positive experience. But, the most important thing out of this, I think, was that the sport provided these girls with more character, confidence and courage. A lot of the girls certainly blossomed from the beginning of the season to the end and that was really rewarding."
Randall also noted that help from the girls, their parents, the high school and community education were all vital to the rugby program's success. "It was big having everyone come forward to help. It was a coordinated effort," he said.
As for the future of the now blossoming program, Randall was excited. Only six seniors are graduating from the team, which leaves a very solid and experienced base coming back for next year. Also, with the strong numbers from the this year, Randall is hoping to grow the program to at least 40 girls, and he'll then split them up into two teams and coach them simultaneously. He said coordinating games would be tough, but he'd really like to run two teams together if they can get the right amount of girls.
As for interested girls, they can check out the rugby community education program from July 13-July 16. The program, which is open to girls in grades 5-11, will run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and will teach the basics of rugby and introduce girls to seven-on-seven touch rugby games. Interested girls can register online at http://www.chisagolakes.k12.mn.us/communityed/index.htm, or e-mail Coach Randall at [email protected].
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