Women's Rugby Rallies To Beat Princeton In Waning Minutes

UPDATED: October 5, 2015, at 3:18 a.m.

With two minutes to go, the outlook looked grim for the Harvard women’s rugby team (3-1, 2-1 Ivy) in its home finale. Despite a late-game deficit, the squad came from behind to steal the win from its Princeton opponent by a 17-10 score.

Down 10-5 and on the Tigers (0-1, 0-1 Ivy) goal line, the Crimson looked to rally before the referee delivered what appeared to crippling blow with an offside call.

Freshman Susie Clements sprinted over to the ref and argued the call, and suddenly Harvard had possession again. This time, the group capitalized with a hard-fought try to even the score up at 10-10.

With 30 seconds remaining, the Crimson did it again. When junior Claire Collins received the ball, she was 10 yards from the end zone with a wall of orange and black standing between her and a comeback win. She ran full throttle into the sea of opponents, dodged, then broke through the tackle of a Princeton player before throwing herself past the try line to secure the victory as the clock ticked to expiration.

In a game that was characterized by a series of difficult calls that could have cost the Crimson the match, Harvard continued on for the close win. There were multiple calls against Harvard at the try line that cost the team the ball, but the team rallied against one of its biggest Ivy League rivals.

“I think it was a significant improvement in our composure and trust in each other to come from behind in the second half, and to overcome some unfair calls from the ref,” Parker said. “We pulled a victory really out of the claws of defeat. [This match was a] huge improvement in terms of mental strength from the past few weeks.”

Once the team did get rolling, it scored twice in five minutes, with Clements clinching the victory with a conversion with seconds left in stoppage time. The theme of mental strength prevailed from coach to player.

“I thought it was a fantastic mental game for us,” freshman Sarah Lipson said. “We had a huge conversation about the mental aspect of our game yesterday, and I think that helped. We played all the way through and never stopped. “

Lipson was often the last line of defense when the Princeton wingers broke from the scrum. She was tasked with slowing down the runners and making several crucial tackles. She would do so more than a few times during what turned out to be Harvard’s closest game of the year thus far.

The Crimson got off to a red-hot start with a try in the first three minutes of the match on a 30 yard run from freshman Caitlin Weigel. She broke multiple lines of defense without a touch, and from then on, Harvard controlled the much of the match.

Princeton never really got a foothold in the game, with Harvard holding possession throughout most of the match. With 22 minutes remaining in the half, the Tigers’ Allie Eakes picked up the ball from the scrum and ran for 60 yards before Lipson could make another tackle. On the very next play, Princeton’s Jessica Lu managed to get around the Harvard defense for a quick-strike score.

The rest of the half went by without much action. Harvard controlled possession but did little, while Princeton did not get the big breaks that it needed to score. The teams went into halftime with the teams tied at five points apiece.

The second half was more of the same. Harvard controlled possession, but once again, the Tigers broke free and although Lipson made a successful tackle to bring down the runner, a flip to a trailing teammate put Princeton ahead, 10-5.

While less than enthused with the officiating, Parker was happy with of the outcome of the Crimson’s last home game.

“Once we we actually able to run our game plan with the laws of the game upheld by the ref, then our game plan flowed,” she said.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: October 5, 2015

An earlier version of this article misstated Susie Clements's last name.