Scrum-Halves Lead the Way to Weekend Routs for Both Mustangs Girls Teams

Saratoga played both host and guest this past weekend, but the results were the same. Lopsided wins that were led by the legs, tackles, and passes of two relatively new players at the scrum-half position.

In a Friday night showdown that served as Saratoga Mustangs Girls NY League team's home opener, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake sophomore Lian Connor, a rookie, showed blinding speed and and aggressive defense, leading her team to several tries and a shutout victory over the short handed Albany Bulldogs, 42-0. After dropping their first match of the season to Kingston, the Mustangs Girls NY, comprised almost entirely of rookies, has come together quickly under Head Coach Rick Babson and his assistant coaches to post back to back victories. Connor, a soccer player in the fall, has shown a natural talent for the game and has quickly picked up scrum-half to help lead her team. Helping in the scoring on the night were were freshman wing Kaita Albanese, freshman fullback Emily Nikolski (who also converted several kicks), and sophomore second-row, Shayna Myers, all of Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School. Connor was Coach Babson's selection for Rugger of the Match for the second consecutive week.

For the Saratoga Mustangs Girls Vermont League team's side of things, the early season got off to a difficult start. Already smarting from the loss of several graduating members of a very powerful pack that helped lead the Mustangs Girls to the state finals, Saratoga found itself very thin in a former area of strength when a significant portion of this year's junior and senior pack players opted for employment and academics over playing rugby. These loses depleted experienced replacements for last year's graduates but the addition of rookie junior Cassie Steele (Shenendahowa) and the conversion of senior Sara McFadden (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) from fullback to second row helped solidify the pack quickly.

After spending half a season as fullback, NRU All-Star Joya Clark (Scotia-Glenville) made the transition to scrum-half in the early season to replace graduated Mustang Emily Wexler. Clark, known for her brutal tackles, blazing speed, and plus foot, has not disappointed in her debut. After difficult travel conditions to Essex, VT left the Saratoga with only 25 minutes to dress and warm up, a see-saw battle with the perennial playoff bound Essex Girls which ended in a 12-12 tie and cost the Mustangs their Co-Captain, Senior Flanker Jordan Scacchetti (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) for what hopefully amounts to only half of the season with a knee injury.

On Saturday, it was the Mustangs Girls VT 's chance to set loose their offense which had been very rusty against a fleet footed Essex team. Despite spirited play from Colchester, which featured a powerful pack that was able to dominate scrums and rucks, it was Clark's feet and aggression that led the way for the Mustangs. The Scotia-Glenville Junior bashed, bolted, and blew by would be tacklers amassing an astounding team record of 33 points by scoring five tries and converting four kicks. One of her kicks even managed to snap one of Colcherster's goal post uprights before ricocheting through the middle for two points.

In other set pieces, juniors Shannon Dowdle and Brianne Briggs, Co-Captain senior Tiffany Neach, and sophomore Melayna Weaver (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) were also a dominant force in the line-outs, winning all of Saratoga's thrown ins and disrupting several of Colchester's. Weaver also had a punishing and then evasive penalty run through the heart of Colchester's defense which set up Clark's second score.

While Clark's running was dazzling to see, it was not the only scoring of the day. Featuring a spread offense to maximize running lanes, Saratoga also had tries scored by junior outside center Sam Coluccio (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake), senior eightman Eva Meier (Ballston Spa), senior inside center Quennah Holt (Colonie) and senior wing Autumn VanderVeer (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake). Coluccio added an impressive interception and 30 meter return of Colchester's inside center to cap a solid day by the outside center. As the game ended, Saratoga ran away with a 53-5 victory.

A special hat tip to freshman Kaita Albanese, Allie Harkins, sophomore Maranda Rotondo, (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) and senior Bridgette Bryan (Shenendahowa) who logged their first playing time for Mustangs Girls VT League squad. Another hat tip to Colchester who fought hard the entire match and played some of the cleanest rugby the coaching staff has seen. The final score was not indicative of how much closer a match it was. Colchester's head coach, Julie Conrad, has her girls playing physical, fundamentally sound rugby and they should be a tough match as her club continues to gain experience.

It was no surprise that an exhausted Joya Clark was awarded Rugger of the Match for the Mustangs Girls VT, who improved to 1-0-1 on the season. Come see the girls take on arch rival and defending State Champ Adirondack in a rematch of last season's State Finals this Saturday at Shenentaha Creek Park in Ballston Spa. Kickoff is at 11:00 A.M.