Women Dominate Monmouth

Albany vs. Monmouth
Monmouth, NJ

Albany 42 - Monmouth 0
April 9, 2011

 Second match of the season was also an away game. Thanks to some great foresight by our match coordinators both the men's and women's clubs were on the road together against Monmouth and team rented a bus to travel down together. It was a great bonding experience for the club members who were able to go and, much like Las Vegas, what happens on the rugby bus stays on the rugby bus...
 Monmouth is another club that we have faced in play-offs quite often over the years. In fact we played them last October in the NRU semi-finals. While we ended up winning that match 29-0, it had been a close first half with the score only 15-0 at the half. This year's match proved to be a more uneven affair with Albany getting on the board 4 times in the first half alone. While our rucking was less than stellar on the day, we still managed to get the ball out to the backs enough so they could launch some very effective attacks. The first part of the game saw Ruth Robertson turn some great hands by our backs into points on the board. Ruth scored tries at the 2, 11 and 28 minute mark. JoAnne Kos scored another try at the 24 minute mark. JoAnne also had a great day kicking and converted all four tries in the half. The score was 28-0 at the half. The second half saw us change around our personnel to work on combinations for next week's match against Beantown. Both teams settled down and the second half saw much more balanced play from both sides and both defenses disrupting the attack of the other side frequently. Albany was able to get two more scores in the match, a Mary Pezzulo try at 18 minutes and a Willow Eyers try at the 27 minute mark. JoAnne converted both these tries as well and was 6 for 6 on conversions for the day.  Albany 42 - Monmouth 0
 We had traveled with great numbers and as a result had an entirely new pack to put into the b-side match and along with moving two a-side forwards into the backline. Monmouth combined with players from Rutgers to form their b-side. Our club had an advantage with fresh legs and experience in the b-side and it showed in open play. Stacy Vadney dove in for a try 7 minutes into the match and Carrie Emigh finished the scoring just before the game ended with her own try.  Albany 10 - Monmouth 0

Scoring summary: Ruth Robertson 3 tries; JoAnne Kos 1 try, 6 conversions; Willow Eyers 1 try, Stacy Vadney 1 try, Carrie Emigh 1 try

Monmouth: Ruth Robertson, Christina Chiapetta