Under the warm September sun, Middlebury Women’s Rugby rolled over the Bryant University Bulldogs 30–0 this past Saturday in a slightly shortened game.
The team scored four tries. Ainsley Fremont ’27, Alex Kaleugher ’25, Jojo Hayes ’25 and Penny Ly ’25 each scored one while Charley Snell ’27 scored two.
Of particular note in Saturday’s game were the scorers, Fremont and Snell. Snell broke tackles left and right and made her way over the touchline on the right wing, a side of the field she dominated throughout the game. The two backs, who accounted for half of Middlebury’s scoring, vigorously broke through Bryant defenders’ tackle attempts, frequently one after another. Middlebury was at times unstoppable.
Regrettably, the second half of the game was shortened due to injuries on the Bryant side. But in the first half, the 15-a-side Panthers scored tries one after another while stifling every Bryant attack. Bryant tried valiantly to halt the progress of Middlebury’s play, but time after time the Panthers simply kept pushing forward.
During Ly’s try, the team worked the ball over to Fremont in a “ball out play” and Fremont began working her way through the defense.
“[Fremont] pushe[d]through everyone else, like the defense, she swat[ted] them down like flies,” Ly said. “It’s hard to go through four different people, you know?”
By this point they were near the touchline so even as Fremont was being taken to the ground and pitching the ball to Ly, there wasn’t far to go. Ly herself was tackled inches from the touchline and made one final reach until the whistle blew, signaling the try was good.
One of Middlebury’s keys to victory was good passing.nThe team was consistently lined up in excellent rugby formation and their passes created wide openings in the Bryant defensive line that the Panthers never failed to exploit.
“We have our super awesome wings Charley and Ainsley who were just shooting up the sides, getting it in, and scoring,” Maeve Shea ’24.5 said.
There was one theme that many players emphasized: the importance of teamwork and the support that Middlebury Women’s Rugby provides its members.
“It’s just such a supportive team, from the moment I joined I felt really welcome,” Fremont said. “We all support each other.”
After losing their first game of the season to Bentley 26–5 the week prior, the Panthers emphatically proved they will not go quietly into the night.
Last year, Middlebury bested the Bulldogs 38–19 in an away match at the end of the season. This season, they started out strong, showing that last fall’s 3–1 record was no fluke. The rest of the season holds promise, with an away matchup against Castleton this Saturday followed by a bye week and then two home games to finish out the year.
