Rad. Rugby Falters

The Radcliffe rugby team lost the Ivy League Championship to traditional rival Dartmouth, 8-4, in sudden death overtime after more than 90 minutes of grueling action Sunday at Soldiers Field.

"We didn't play our game," Club President Heather Flewelling said, "and we got a bit sloppy at the end."

Dartmouth opened the scoring in the middle of the first half with a try. The Crimson came back with a try of its own by Becky Gradolph with less than 10 minutes remaining to even the score at four-all. There were no other regulation goals, forcing the game into overtime.

And in the 10-minute overtime period, a dearth of scoring sent the contest into a final sudden death overtime.

The Big Green broke the scoring drought four minutes into sudden death to win the Ivy Championship.

Last year, Radcliffe had beaten Dartmouth for the championship. "They came psyched to beat us this year," Flewelling said.

"Since we beat them in the fall," Match Secretary Cherie Silvera said, "they were out to get us."

On Saturday, the Crimson appeared to be in good positon for another Championship as it crushed Dartmouth's B-side, 44-0. Six different players scored in the first-round rout.

Next came Penn: which Radcliffe beat, 13-4. The Quakers were tough, but were unable to overcome the offense supplied by Gradolph, Flewelling, and Eliza Schwarz.

"We made it to the finals but we wanted to perform better," Flewelling said. "Even if we had won we would not have been satisfied with our performance."

With four players out because of injury, a short-handed Harvard rugby team allowed a six point lead to slip away as it dropped a 7-6 decision to the Ephmen of Williams College at Williamstown, Mass.

"They are a tough and physical team," Coach Martin Kingston said of Williams. "We play good technical rugby. We made a mistake in trying to match them and they wore us down."

The Crimson led throughout much of the contest and was leading, 6-0, with five minutes remaining on the strength of two penalty kicks by Co-Captain Ray LaRaja. However, the Ephmen's dominating style took over in the final five minutes as they retaliated with a four point try and a penalty kick to take the win.

"We should have won the game even though we didn't play well," Kingston said. "We were a bit short-handed and I think it made a difference."

The replacements, Kingston said, "put on a good performance. Vaughn Buffalo, Bob Leazitt, and Bryan Lennon really played out-standing."

The loss was the first of the season for the Crimson, which tied Boston College Thursday.

Although the A-side was defeated and the B-side lost, 7-0, the C-side won, 12-0.

"The B and C sides really played well," Kingston said. "I am happy with their performances."

The Crimson will next play in the Ivy League tournament to be held at Brown University. The team is seeded third behind Dartmouth and Brown.

"If we can correct a few problems," Kingston said, "I think we can win."