Rugby Squads Bow, Fall in Semis

After 150 minutes of rugby, the fate of the Harvard rugby football club in Saturday's Ivy League tournament semifinal game in Providence. R.I., depended on a sudden-death kicking contest.

After 110 minutes of rugby, the fate of the Radcliffe rugby football club in Saturday's Ivy League tournament semifinal game in New Haven, Conn., depended on a sudden-death kicking contest.

The Harvard and Radcliffe clubs had each extended defending Ivy champions into double overtime. Harvard was deadlocked with Brown, 12-12 while Radcliffe and two-time champion Dartmouth were knotted in a scoreless tie.

However, each squad failed in its bid to advance to the Ivy final. Harvard fell to Brown, 15-12, when the Bruins converted a kick after a Harvard miss, and the Big Green defeated Radcliffe, 4-2, in a five-player kick-off.

"It's fair," Harvard Co-Captain Mike Newhouse said, "but its hard to play 150 minutes, and have it all come down to a couple of kicks."

Prop Jon Diorio, who plays in Harvard's pack, contributed one of his two trys of the weekend to get Harvard rolling.

Harvard also jumped out to an early lead against Brown, leading 12-4 at the half. Deon Strickland, another member of the pack, Diorio, and back Chris North all tallied trys.

The Bruins rallied and knotted the score midway through the second half, forcing overtime. After the 10-minute overtime ended in a scoreless tie, the two teams entered into a sudden-death kickoff.

Brown hit the first kick, and senior Nathan Koenig followed up by also making his kick. But in the next round, he missed, and Brown advanced to the championship round.

"I've gone over and over it in my mind," Newhouse said, "and its just sinking in that we lost like that. We just all felt so helpless, having to watch those kicks."

Meanwhile in New Haven. the women battled archrival Dartmouth after trouncing Brown, 18-0, in the first round.

Neither team managed to score through regulation or overtime, and in the five-player kick-off. Dartmouth managed to hit four kicks while the Black-and-White converted only two kicks.