JOHNSON, VERMONT – A mostly inexperienced University of Maine at Farmington women’s rugby team traveled to Vermont on Saturday and came away with a convincing 29-5 win against their hard-tackling hosts from Johnson State University.
UMF’s starting 15-player squad featured nine players who were new to the sport, but as the game wore on many of those rookies helped stamp their mark on the match. Three of them: Sasha Hampton, Brennah O’Connell and Elizabeth McCabe, all notched key tries that helped the UMF women pull away as the match wore on.
None of that would have been possible but for the stellar play of UMF vets Bethany Routier, Emily Gray, Kellie Sanborn, Jubilee MacLeod and Katie Stasalovich, as well as former UMO rugby standout Brittany Bissell: all six women were splendid all afternoon and set the tone for a defense that tackled anything that moved for the entire 80 minutes.
The UMF women will be in action at home on the Prescott Field pitch this Saturday, Sept. 27, when they play Lyndon State College at 11 a.m. That match will be followed by one between the undefeated UMF men, who comprehensively bested the University of New England on Saturday night by a 49-0 count, and visiting Bates College.
