Late Surge Pushes UMass Dartmouth Past Endicott

BEVERLY, Mass. – Coming off back-to-back wins to start the 2015 season, the Endicott women's rugby dropped its first game of the year to visiting UMass Dartmouth, 22-19, last Sunday.  

The Corsiars jumped out to an early lead before the Gulls scored three times with two conversions to enter the half 19-5. Endicott narrowed the gap late in the second half, but UMass Dartmouth held on for the win due to some adjustments the squad implented at halftime.

"UMass Dartmouth is a scrappy and well sized team," said Endicott women's rugby head coach Bob Ryman. "We came out evenly matched, but you have to give credit to their team for making second half adjustments to challenge our running game with an extra back which made the difference in the contest."

The Gulls saw significant contributions from senior Brittany Buma (Whitinsville, Mass.) and freshman Jordan Bluhm who both stepped up well in the absence of other student-athletes who were out due to injuries Sophomore Samantha Hontas (Lee, Mass.) had another great game offensively with several breakaway scores.

Stephanie Yepez (Ridgefield, Conn.) also was dominant defensively both in tackling and supporting. 

The Gulls will return to action on Sunday, October 4 against Western Connecticut in a Colonial Coast Rugby Conference (CCRC) matchup at 2:30 p.m. at home. 

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