Archived Match Reports

March 5, 2005

Seattle Men cruise past ORSU in D1 Opener

48-12

After a successful half in the British Columbia leagues, Seattle RFC opened up their PNRFU Div 1 season with a comfortable 48-12 win versus ORSU at Hutchinson Field. After a shaky first 10 minutes, the Orcas found their rhythm, and created space for two nicely-taken tries by wing men Tony Ursino and Andy Carmichael. With a fully-fit Kevin Flynn back at the pivot, Seattle's ball movement was much improved over recent weeks, and three more first half tries resulted from their sustained pressure. Skipper Travis Schulze, Matt Schoener and Carmichael all crossed in the second quarter, with full-back Ryan Bishop adding one conversion to give the home side a 22-0 half-time advantage.

To their credit, ORSU came out fired up after the break and, as Seattle made personnel changes, they worked two tries of their own. Seattle dominance in the scrum started to tell, and with locks Dave Piedrahita and US Eagle squad member Brian Schoener controlling the lineouts, the Orcas quickly regained control. Seattle rounded off the scoring with three further back division tries (Bishop, Ursino and Adam Pugh), all converted by Bishop.

The B side were again disappointed to be allowed only 40 minutes due to the lack of ORSU players. In that time, they extended their unbeaten run to 10 games with a 15-10 win. Sophomore winger Craig Eggum was the star with two thrilling tries. Thanks to debut guys Fraser and Ben, and to Jamie, Ehren, TC and Matt Kuzma for helping out the visitors.

Club VP Steve Thomas was pleased by the team's overall performance, especially as this was their first real test of 2005. "We had a few young lads playing their first senior league game and a couple of returning veterans, and the guys who came in during the second half all did well. The squad is deeper than at this time last year, and for once, fully fit. Next week's game against arch-rivals OPSB will tell us more about where we are, though."

January 24, 2004

Seattle Men Sneak Home...Just

SRFC 30 - Richmond 22

After a disappointing result the previous week at UBC, Seattle's A-side was looking to bounce back to winning ways against Fraser Valley's Richmond RFC in a BCRU Division 1 game at Hutchinson Field. Although Seattle was virtually at full strength and played downhill in the first half, it was the visitors who took charge in the early exchanges to put Seattle under considerable pressure. Despite a series of turnovers (some forced, many unforced), Seattle took the lead with a typical Matt Schoener try, well converted by Eric Stacy. Richmond closed the gap with a try of their own in the corner following some poor Seattle marking, 7-5. The teams traded penalty kicks before Seattle struck again with a sweet try in the corner by Tony Maphosa.

Seattle restarted the second half in confident mood, and extended the lead thanks to a break away try from Tony Ursino, converted by Stacy. But the visitors were in no mood to quit and upped their effort, resulting in two tries that made Seattle's tackling looking less than ordinary, 25-22. A final try by Jeremy Nash relieved the pressure, and Seattle held on to win, 30-22. Although the forwards dominated in the scrums and line-outs, but were less successful at the breakdown, frequently guilty of not protecting the ball. And Seattle forgot on this day how to catch the rugby ball - otherwise, the game would not have been so close at the death.

This Saturday sees Seattle traveling to Tacoma's Portland Avenue field for two games versus the Nomads and Eastside in cross-over play.

Team: 1-Kevin Graham (Brian Campbell, 70) 2-Travis Schulze(c) 3-Brian Tax 4-Dave Piedrahita 5-Brian Schoener 6-Brian Haws 7-Tim Tyler 8-Matt Schoener

9-Jeremy Nash (Andy Carmichael, 60) 10-Kevin Flynn 11-Tony Ursino 12-Will Bass (Kevin Phillips, 70) 13-Eric Stacy 14-Naoya Kimbara 15-Tony Maphosa.

November 15, 2003

Pocomo W @ SRFC W

SRFC 27, Pocomo 17

The first half started with sunshine and SRFC going downhill. Eight minutes into the match inside center Tonia Winchester began the scoring. Seattle capitalized on a Pocomo penalty as we gained advantage from fullback Marj Friedman dishing to Winchester. Then not much longer #8 Marie Hahler picked up from the scrum, dummied the defender and muscled her way down the field for a 30 meter run. Outside center Meredith Bagley was there in support and slid in for the try. The first half scoring ended with captain and winger Jana Hopper catching one of the many high balls from Pocomo #10, offloading to Bagley, then being the first support there to ruck over her fellow back. Halfback Tasha Bishop was there and around the weak side came fly half Marty Quick who tucked it away for the 20 meter score. End of the first stanza saw the home team 15, visitors 0.

The second half started, substitutions were made, and SRFC went uphill, literally and figuratively. Pocomo came out with fire in their eyes and had two quick tries around the corner, one converted, to make the score a close 15-12. Fullback Jodie Ramey put some space between SRFC and the Pokes with a great run up the middle, diving in for the try to make it 20-12. Again, the Canucks speedy wingers weren't done as #11 showed her form again, 20-17. The SRFC forward pack, now led by Liz Kirk, kept possession and won lineout after lineout, poached ball after ball. Kirk fired up the whole team on the field, off the field, and everyone else in the stands with a hit on Pocomo that could be heard by the dogs in Fall City. Then the scrummies took matters into their own hands and tangoed, mauled and shoved their way to a try. Bagley converted. Final score SRFC 27, Pocomo 17. The coaching staff would like to thank the team for raising their heart rates during the game for such a long time that a workout was not needed that day, and we drank beers instead.

Competition as defined by Webster's on-line dictionary is defined as such: The act of competing, as for profit or a prize; rivalry. Competing, gives this explanation: to strive against another or others to attain a goal, such as an advantage or a victory. These definitions are given to remind us how hard we competed Saturday. SRFC should be reminded how hard they fought on the field and how precious that time with our mates on a Saturday afternoon is. Make sure every second you are out there is played with the best effort you can muster and the most passion you can give. Liz gave us a song at Paula Clarkson and Dana Forfylow's retirement party that had the line in it, "You are my free-est fancy, you are my craziest dream." Think about how that can and should translate into Saturday afternoon.

November 9, 2003

SRFC W @ Meralomas 2 -BCRU Interlock Match

SRFC 17, Lomas 5

Seattle traveled up to Lomas with 18 players, three who were pulling double duty from the first side game the day before. The first half ended 5-5, Lomas' speedy wing scoring in the corner after about 15 minutes of goal line defense from Seattle. Winger Megs White started off the scoring for Seattle - her breakfast working against her did nothing to stop the powerful runner on the pitch. Lock Megan Impson went down with an ankle injury, pressing flanker Rose Baker into service at #4. The second half looked as if we were going downhill. Seattle put some dynamic runs together and prop Naomi peeled off a ruck and got through about 5 Lomas, hooking up with Baker for the try. Later on flanker Andrea Taubman touched it down and converted her own try, after an 8 pick from Leah Oehler, dish to winger White and then Taubman was off to the races. The half ended with everyone getting in to play and playing hard. The overriding sentiment was that this game was the most fun for just about everyone involved all year. Naomi was awarded the player of the match from Meralomas.

Gizmos to:
Forwards: Andrea Taubman
Backs: Brett Zimmerman
Extraordinaire: Rose Baker
Big Hit: Dom Lewis

November 8, 2003

SRFC W v ORSU W - PNRFU League Match

SRFC 34, ORSU 0

A change of venue proved to be no problem for the home team as on a sunny but cold and windy day Seattle's 1st XV blanked ORSU 34 - 0. 13 minutes into the match the Seattle forwards powered over the line from a driving maul and Andrea "Wheels" Stamm touched it down. Just as many minutes later loose forward Tonia Winchester ran through about three defenders and hooked up with captain Jen Sporleder for another try. Flyhalf Meredith Bagley converted, 12-0 SRFC. Ending the scoring in the half was winger Heidi Whitman, around the corner and scored in the middle, easily converted again by Bagley. 19-0 at the end of the first half. While all could recognize that Seattle was ahead, the team felt like they needed more from each other. Some adjustments were made at half, fresh legs into the pack and our scrum surged ahead with new life. Just 9 minutes away from the whistle standoff Marty Quick looped her line and scored in the corner. A textbook chip kick from now #9 Bagley put Whitman away for another try. The scoring ended with Quick again making another touchdown. One sad note, captain Jen Sporleder's collarbone was broken in injury time, ending the fall season for her. Down but not out, at the following Tuesday night practice Sporleder led her troops to the Alki Tavern, the team having brought training to her.

Gizmos to:
Forwards - Jen Tetler (VC)
Backs - Jen Sporleder (C)
Extraordinaire - Sarah Veatch
Big Hit - Sporleder

November 1, 2003

Men's Summary

Last Saturday, the Men hosted arch-rival Beach in a PNRFU Division 1 contest and the Vancouver Kats in a VRU Division 2 clash at Hutchinson Field. The A-side, missing several regulars though injury, struggled early on against a determined Beach team. Seattle opened with a Jeremy Nash try, but several scoring chances went begging and they trailed 20-5 at the half. The second half was a more even contest and another opportunist Nash try cut the deficit to a final of 20-10.

The B-side, having lost their last three VRU games after a fine 3-0 start to the season, were determined to get back to winning ways and did so with a hard-earned 29-10 victory. The first half was tight as both teams failed to turn possession into points, and the Kats lead 5-3 at the break. Playing downhill in the second half, Seattle stepped up a gear and notched four fine tries via skipper Andy Carmichael (2), Jason Whalen and John Delport.

November 1, 2003

Women's Summary

SRFC 1st XV 61, Bayside 5

FULL 80 MINUTES...FULL 80 MINUTES....FULL 80 MINUTES of rugby was the underlying theme of this game. With players in different positions than their usual, SRFC women's first XV crushed the Bayside baby blues 61 to 5. One of the most important weekends in SRFC women's past as 38 women played for SRFC this weekend. 17 went to Bayside and 21 stayed home to bring home yet another victory to our club. Quite a testament to the hard work our players and staff have put in over the past weeks.
Gizmos were awarded to:
Backs: Michelle (Scooter) Bostick
Extraordinaire: Marie Haler
Forwards: Tasha Bishop
Big Hit: Jen Popham

SRFC 2nd XV 22, Eugene 5

October 18, 2003

Seattle Men travel to ORSU

1st: Win 39 - 27, 2nd: Win ? - ?

This past weekend saw Seattle going down to Portland to play ORSU at the FARM in their first PNRFU Division 1 League Action for the 2003-2004 campaign. Several players were unavailable, so the Seattle men took down 27 players for the 2 matches with ORSU. Seattle came out strong and dominated the first half scoring 4 tries to ORSU's 1. The 2nd half did not start off well for the Seattle Men with Matt Schoener getting sent to the Sin Bin a few minutes into the half, Seattle had to play a man down. ORSU took advantage of the overlap and scored a couple of tries to pull close. Later, another Seattle player got binned and the pressure was on again. Seattle held a 6 point lead and Ryan Bishop put the game away with 2 late drop goals to seal the Victory 39-27. Jeremy Nash had 3 tries in this game

The 2's then followed the 1's with Anthony Maphosa (Shadow), Jeremy Nash, Kevin Flynn, and Ryan Bishop pulling double duty. Jeremy Nash streaked through a porous ORSU defense and put in at least 2 tries. Newcomer Jason Garberg had a great game at 2nd row and is really picking up well. Overall, it was a sloppy game, but the Seattle 2's went on to win 46-12.

This weekend, both the 1's and 2's go up to Vancouver Rowing Club in beautiful Stanley Park. Feel free to come up and support the team and a great (hopefully dry) day in Vancouver.

October 18, 2003

Seattle Women host Velox

Win 55 - 0

A warm sunny October afternoon was the setting for yet another SRFC Women's side BCRU victory. This time the opponent was Velox, from Vancouver Island, believed to be making their maiden voyage to Seattle. The final score was 55 - 0, an offensive explosion and defensive shutout put on by the home team. Winger Gretta Baca got the game started off on the right foot scoring a try in the right corner, touching it down rugby 7's style. Then outside center Rose Baker scored and flyhalf Marty Quick converted, 12-0. The tries and conversions kept coming - Susan Lang, 8-man, touched down, converted again by Quick. Then Quick scored herself and converted one more time. Not to be outdone by her counterpart, winger Andrea Taubman scored in the left corner. Inside center Tonia Winchester finished out the try tallying in the first half, and Quick again was good with the boot. The second half saw some substitutions made, but Taubman and Winchester kept the tries coming. Quick converted. Flanker Stephanie Oldham finished out the scoring for SRFC. Final tally home team 55, visitors 0.

Winchester was awarded the woman of the match from Velox.
The rest of the gizmos went to:
Forwards: Susan Lang
Backs: Tonia Winchester
Extraordinaire: Tonia Winchester
Big Hit: Jen Popham (UW)

This weekend the women will send players to Utah to compete with the Loggers in the Grizzly Shield as well as traveling to BC to play Capilano 2's.

September 27. 2003

Seattle B Fall Just Short versus Beach

An experimental Seattle B side narrowly failed to overcome an OPSB II side, which contained many of their regular RSL players, on Saturday at Hutchinson Field, going down 29-34. Beach took the early initiative, taking advantage of some lackluster tackling and sloppy passing by the home side to lead 10-0 after 15 minutes. Seattle rallied in the second quarter, controlling much of the possession and sustaining a prolonged period of pressure in the Beach 22 resulting in a Joe Evans try after breaking from the back of an attacking scrum. Captain Andy Carmichael converted to leave the score 10-7 at the half.

Both sides played entertaining, open rugby in the second half, trading scores at regular intervals. Each time Beach increased their lead, Seattle hit back with tries by Austin Britts, Travis Schulze and a second for Evans after charging down an attempted clearance. A stoppage-time assault on the Beach line fell just short. Despite the defeat, Seattle can take heart from a spirited performance against a notably larger and experienced side. Rookies Craig Eggum (wing) and Dave Hoffman (fly-half) made their first starts for the club, adding to the increasingly deep talent pool.

September 20, 2003

Seattle (W) v. Bayside

A beautiful fall day, lots of fans on the sidelines, and two teams ready to scored quickly. Seattle faced an uphill battle, literally, all half. Various ways of attack were attempted but due to the visitors' size and pressure, the home team found itself on the back foot for much of the half. All was not lost, however, as SRFC showed they weren't down for the count. The intermission showed the score only 13-0 in favor of Bayside. Some key adjustments were made at halftime. Almost immediately SRFC came out with a force that Bayside found hard to counter. Forward momentum was established and continued for the rest of the game. Winger Marty Quick set up Fullback Jodie Ramey for Seattle's first try of the match. Soon after, wing Heidi Whitman scored one of her trademark "beat them around the corner and touch it down in the center" tries. Quick converted. A breakaway try by #5 Bayside showed that the visitors weren't done, but SRFC hadn't even begun. Center Scooter Bostick scored her first try for Seattle and Quick converted to make the score 20 - 19 with 5 minutes to play. Sarah Veatch and Liz Kirk executed a perfect forward try with the minutes ticking down to give Seattle a 24 - 20 lead and Seattle's defense held strong in the waning minutes of the match to take the victory. (the writers apologize for any discrepancy in the game summary) Our thanks to the team for a great day of rugby as well as the fans for their continued support. Our next match will be played in Vancouver this weekend against Trinity Western University.
Gizmos awarded to:
FORWARD: Jen "Cousin" Nollkamper
BACK: UW Jen
EXTRAORDINAIRE: Jodie Ramey
BIG HIT: Jodie Ramey

Try Scorers
Jodie Ramey
Heidi Whitman
Scooter Bostick
Liz Kirk

Conversions
Marty Quick (2)

September 20, 2003

Mixed Fortunes for Seattle in BC

Seattle Men's A and B sides had mixed results this weekend in the BCRU cross-over games in sunny Langley. The B side continued their perfect record to the young season with a hard fought 16-0 win. Playing down-hill in the first half, Seattle held strong advantages in possession and territory, yet had only one TC Elliott try and two Andy Carmichael penalties to show for their early dominance. Despite maintaining the stranglehold after the break, Seattle showed signs of frustration with their inability to turn this pressure into points. As such, their play became disjointed, and they were repeatedly penalized for what were mostly mental errors. Mighty Sean Twohey did crash over on the hour to seal the win. MVP honors went to recent recruit Andy Pero for his strong play and big-hearted effort.

The A side faired less well against last season's Fraser Valley Div.1 champions. Despite having the better of the early exchanges, some lax defensive play let the hosts in for two tries midway through the first half. Seattle controlled much of the play at scrum time and through a series of rolling mauls, but was repeatedly guilty of losing vital ruck ball to the highly-committed Langley players. Things looked more promising at the start of the second stanza when skipper Travis Schulze broke through to halve the deficit. However, Langley hit straight back with the first of what would be three game-clinching breakaway tries. A late, well-worked Matt Schoener try was no more than a consolation. Final score, 30-12. A strong all-round display from Duncan "Anvil-head" Cormack at prop earned him the MVP award in the losing effort.

The entire squad will need to work hard on ruck play and decision making during the coming practice sessions to get back on track. The B side host Beach at Hutchinson Field on September 27th, while the A side will take a break before BCRU action returns for both teams on October 4th.

September 13, 2003

Women come from behind to Take Pocomo

Try scorers - Marty Quick, Tonia Winchester, Rose Baker, Heidi Whitman, Sarah Veatch

Only two tries in the first half to three for the Canucks made for a tight score at intermission but SRFC women knew they could improve. SRFC exploded in the second stanza for 6 tries and 4 conversions for a final score of 48 - 27

Hard core defense was the theme of the day as wing Heidi Whitman inspired her teammates with dump tackle after tackle. She was awarded the "Big Hit" tackle shirt at the end of the day for her efforts. Tonia Winchester led the forward pack from the 8 and lock positions for the MVP of the game. New addition to the team from BASH Michelle "Scooter" Bostick took home the back award while another rookie to the team, Rose Baker from U-Wisconsin- LaCrosse received the forward prize. Congratulations are in order to all the players as well as thanks for the support from the players who made the trip up from Seattle.

September 13, 2003

Seattle Men Double-up UBC T-birds and Braves

Seattle Men's continued their impressive start to their 2003-04 BCRU campaign with two emphatic wins at home to a young Univ. of BC squad this Saturday. On a warm, sunny day and with a sizeable crowd on hand, the B team kicked off and instantly took the game to the Braves. Based on a dominant scrum, and assertive running and tackling, Seattle scored six first half tries. Playing uphill after the break, Seattle continued to control the game and added four further tries. The Braves replied with a fine try of their own late on, giving a final score of 60-5. Following on from last weeks' 60-3 win over Pocomo, Seattle have discovered a ruthless edge on both offense and defense that eluded them last season, and their confidence is high. Importantly, the side welcomed Ty Bacon, Aron Peake, John Delport and rookie Jason Garberg for their first action for the Club.

Seattle A found the going tougher early on against the Thunderbirds, who impressed with their ability to turn-over ruck ball and make in-roads into the backfield. However, Seattle opened the scoring with a neat backline play resulting in the game's first try. Despite some adventurous play by the visitors, Seattle added two more tries before the interval to lead 17-0. The second half was all Seattle as they capitalized on UBC mistakes and missed tackles, and attacked the open spaces almost at will. Six tries resulted, many of them starting deep in Seattle territory, to give a final score of 55-0. Despite the comfortable win and better all-round defensive effort, much work remains to improve Seattle's ruck play before next month's sterner tests.