Saratoga accepted forfeit wins from CVU for both its Boys and Girls Super A teams. This improves the Boys' record to 2-1 and the Girls' record to 3-0 in VYRA play.

The Mustangs Girls also added a home game to its schedule when it agreed to host Colchester High School at Shenentaha Creek Park in Ballston Spa on May 3rd.

Complete game schedules for the boys and girls can be found here.

Mustang Boys Trample Berzerkers

The Saturday, April 12th game, against Upper Valley (UV) was marred with administrative nightmares, long before even stepping onto the pitch. It became evident very early that the organizational ability of the opponent and their lack of communication with the games' host (Rutland, VT) was going to wear on the Saratoga players, coaching staff and supporters. After prodding and pleading by the visiting coaching staff (Saratoga), the Rutland folks altered their game schedules to fit in some playing time for the Saratoga Mustangs to play the 'hosting' UV Berzerkers.

Not knowing exactly when the welcoming whistle would be blown to get the male Mustangs on the pitch, the boys went through necessary warm-ups to retain focus and mentally prepare themselves for the short battle that lie ahead. Finally, at 2:25 pm, the Mustangs took the field. Although the opposition's coaching staff seemed to not be on the ball, it was quickly realized that their players were familiar with the game and knew the basics of how to play. Note that Saratoga furnished them with two rookie backline players who, although limited in training and experience, definitely solidified the opposition's green players.

After the opening kick-off, Saratoga found itself deep in its own zone. UV committed a penalty in a ruck which allowed Saratoga 8-man Mike Matrazzo to boot it into touch. After another UV penalty, Saratoga won their second line-out and pushed on. What became a potential play of the game for setting the tone was when hooker Bryan Emerich charged ahead within the opposing 22-meter line and plowed through several members of the defending team. Through some great rucking, the ball was passed out to inside center Bryan Little, who plowed across the try line to put Saratoga up 5-0 at the 5-minute mark. M. Matrazzo converted the try to give Saratoga a 7-0 lead.

Play went back and forth for a bit, but key runs by fullback Dylan Gandy and flyhalf Dan Godshalk, along with fantastic teamwork got Saratoga back on the board with a 12-0 lead in the 18th minute, when B. Little scored his second try of the afternoon.

UV fought back hard to prevent anymore Saratoga points, but flanker Jessie Hummer burst along the left sideline from near midfield and scored the sealing try in the 22nd minute. M. Matrazzo converted this try to give the Mustangs a 19-0 lead. Play was whistled 3 minutes later and the dominating Mustangs were victorious in the shortened game. Saratoga moves to 1-1 on the season in VYRA play.

Lady Mustangs Continue Dominance in CDYR and VYRA Play

The Saratoga Lady Mustangs continued their strong start this season with a pair of decisive victories this past weekend. Friday evening, the Mustang’s A side made the short trip down I-87 to Albany where they participated in a controlled scrimmage versus the newly-formed Albany County Lady Bulldogs. While their opponent put up a spirited effort, the hard running Mustangs got off to a quick start. After an Albany knock-on on the opening kickoff, Saratoga’s forwards showed impressive determination in their early rucking, pounding the ball down the field. Prop Nadia Alvarez (BHBL) powered over the try line to open Saratoga’s scoring. The Lady Mustangs continued to demonstrate their skill on the pitch, adding scores by hook Brianne Briggs (BHBL) and fly half Jess Kniskern (Stillwater). Alvarez topped off Saratoga’s scoring with her second try of the game. Despite trailing, Albany’s side showed incredible determination and spirit. A breakdown in Saratoga’s defensive line allowed the Albany wing to sprint down the sideline for a late Bulldog score. In the end, the Mustangs emerged victorious 20-5 against the tenacious, but inexperienced Albany squad. Nadia Alvarez was named player of the match for the Saratoga A side effort.

On Saturday, the Saratoga Lady Mustangs Super A’s made the trip to Rutland, Vermont, in anticipation of their second VYRA match against Upper Valley. The game was overshadowed by countless administrative blunders by the ‘host’ side including the failure to coordinate field availability with the Rutland Club. The Lady Mustang’s noon kickoff was delayed for over an hour and a half. Despite the frustrations, the Saratoga ladies remained focused on the task at hand. Upper Valley was able to field only four players for the match, borrowing five players from the Rutland Under 19 Girls team, and an additional six from Saratoga. Brianne Briggs, Nadia Alvarez, Sara McFadden, Olivia Guay, Julia Sell, and Paula Rehm graciously agreed to fill Upper Valley’s depleted ranks so that their teammates could get a game in. Saratoga quickly established dominance both in skill and determination. Quennah Holt (Bethlehem) opened the Mustang scoring with a tenacious run through the heart of the Berserker defense. Holt added two more scores before the day was over. Saratoga continued to pour it on, adding tries by Katie Dannenberg (BHBL), Jordan Scacchetti (BHBL), and Autumn Vanderveer (BHBL), who took a well timed pass from center Carly Baker (Averil Park) 35 meters down the sideline to the try zone. Rookies Shannon Dowdle (BHBL), Leah Gerlach (BHBL), and Jenny von Rosen (BHBL) made impressive debuts with the Super A’s. Dowdle’s jumping ability combined with well timed throws by hook Katie Dannenberg allowed the Lady Mustangs to dominate lineouts and maintain much needed possession time and again. Senior scrum half Emily Wexler continued to show tremendous development, controlling the pace of play and ensuring Saratoga's possessions culminated in positive yardage. The Mustang forwards dominated all aspects of set and open field play, controlling scrums and dominating in rucks despite serious effort on the part of Upper Valley. Line play by the Lady Mustangs led by Joann Pettis (BHBL), Baker and Holt was superb, demonstrating the remarkable strides the young Saratoga club has made since last season. The lone highlights for the Upper Valley side came from a trio of Mustangs. Sara McFadden (BHBL) thwarted one promising Saratoga drive by poaching the ball from a ruck, giving the Berserkers one of their few possessions of the day. Rookie Paula Rehm (Ballston Spa) proved a stalwart presence at the center of the Upper Valley line and Olivia Guay (BHBL) made two try-saving tackles, including a rundown of fullback Khirstian Carbonello (BHBL) at the try line following a 75 meter kick return. Quennah Holt’s three try performance earned her rugger of the match honors in the 30-0 victory over Upper Valley.

Saratoga's Record: Super A Team 2-0, A Team 2-0.

Saratoga Mustangs Thump Rutland: Take Super A & A Games to Win Season Opener

The Saratoga Mustangs Girls U-19 Rugby Club won their Vermont Youth Rugby Association debut with a hard hitting, hard running shutout victory over Rutland, 10-0.

With wind whipping across the field and snow keeping home field Shenentaha Creek Park closed, the Saratoga Mustangs hosted Rutland at SUNY Albany’s field on Saturday, April 5th. For sixty minutes, Saratoga’s "Super A" Team's spirited play results in punishing runs and tackles by forwards and backs, alike. From the opening kickoff, Saratoga showed they had something to prove. Spending most of the first half in Rutland’s half of the field, the constant pressure and quality tackles started increasing the pressure on Rutland’s back, causing sloppy passes despite some solid runs by their all-star prop and wing. The end result was the first try of the season, scored by line captain Joann Pettis (Bunt Hills).

Set pieces were also dominated by Saratoga whose hard driving scrum and strong line-outs, featuring sophomore jumper Sam Coluccio (Burnt Hills, pictured right), made capitalizing on miscues difficult for Rutland. Senior Emily Wexler’s (Burnt Hills) play at scrum-half helped lead a balanced running attack which featured pounding runs by senior captain Jess Sears (Burnt Hills, pictured above left), junior Tiffany Neach (Burnt Hills) and rookie senior second row Shelby Snyder (Scotia). This set up a triple threat backfield featuring junior fly-half Pettis, sophomore phenom Carly Baker (Averil Park), playing inside center, and the speedy senior Quennah Holt (Bethlehem) playing outside center.

Not everything went Saratoga’s way, however. Minutes into the game, senior NRU (Northeast Rugby Union) All-Star eight-man Maddy Cocca (Niskayuna) was twisted up in a tackle and suffered a broken ankle, potentially ending her senior season and devastating her team mates. Fellow loose forward, junior Eva Meier (Ballston Spa), slid over from flanker into Maddy’s role and quickly dolled out some punishing hits of her own, both off of open play and from the back of the scrum. After the game, the coaches unanimously elected Meier as the “Rugger of the Match” for the Super A's, an honor bestowed upon one player after each contest, representing the coaching staff’s selection as the best player on the pitch that day.

The second half was also hard fought and the early season’s game began to slow as fatigue and bruising set in. Consistent play from veterans such as junior second row Marianna Carta and sophomore hook Katie Dannenberg (Burnt Hills), and the foot and open field tackles of freshman fullback Khirstian Carbonello (Burnt Hills) helped continue to keep Rutland from scoring, despite a few close calls. Junior wing Autumn Vanderveer and sophomore wing Leah Gerlach (Burnt Hills) also provided stellar defense making several key tackles to thwart scoring threats from Rutland and keep the game 5-0. In the end, it was Dannenberg’s head’s up play, scooping the loose ball from the ground and driving into the try zone, that sealed the victory, bringing the score to its final 10-0 tally.

Saratoga’s flexibility allowed it to use 20 different players from it’s Super A-Side roster. Burnt Hills sophomore flanker Sarah Cranfield, and juniors Jen Rohling (scrum-half), Haley Brown (hook), and Nadia Alvarez (prop) all played significant roles in keeping Rutland on its heals and providing fresh legs at critical times. Although the season is young, it certainly looks bright for 2008!

Rookies Perform Well, Step Into Big Shoes

Saratoga Mustangs “A” team also claimed victory on the pitch versus Rutland. In a much slower paced game, predominated by rookies to the sport on both sides, Saratoga’s intensity was again predominant. Led by four junior veterans, including front rows Haley Brown and Nadia Alvarez, scrum-half Jen Rohling, and fly-half Olivia Guay (all of Burnt Hills), this game was possibly more exciting than the Super A match that concluded thirty minutes prior.

In much of the same spirit, many of the remaining new comers to Saratoga’s stable of 48 players cut their teeth against the much more established Rutland Rugby Club. The contest was hard fought, featuring a swan-dive score by freshman flanker Maranda Rotunda (Burnt Hills), but looked like it would end in a hard fought tie at 5-5. With only injury time remaining, eventual “Rugger of the Match”, freshman eight-man Melayna Weaver (Burnt Hills), under the watchful eye of her uncle and long time eight-man for the Albany Knicks, Tony Leva, picked up the ball off of the back of the scrum and pinballed her way twenty meters for the go ahead score as time expired, allowing Saratoga to snatch a 10-5 victory. This effort prompted fans to ask Mr. Leva how it felt to be the second best rugby player in his family.

Saratoga's Record: Super A Team 1-0, A Team 1-0.

Fall 2007 Schedule Announced

I know it has been a while since I have posted here. I may have over extended myself with my blog pile. I am trying to get things up to speed and hopefully Smokin' Bill, T-Rex, and Paco will help me add more content to this as we get into the fall.

Highlights from last night's player's meeting:

1. Practice will be 8/16, 8/21, & 8/23 from 6-8 at Shenataha Creek Park on Eastline Road in Ballston Spa in preparation for the eight team Saratoga Invitational Rugby Tournament on 8/25 at Skidmore.
2. Practice for the fall season will begin on 8/28 in preparation for our first home match in the club's NERFU D-IV history against Mt. Washington on 9/1.
3. Dues for the Fall Season are now set at $70 and are payable to T-Rex by 9/15.
4. Mick O'Dalaigh is returning as head coach this fall.
5. We will have a volunteer event for our bye weekend (9/15).
6. Vote for fall captains will take place on 8/28. Anyone interested in the job needs to e-mail Paco.
7. Team By-Laws have been adopted by the officers. Every player needs to sign them before he can step on the field for the fall.
8. A jacket order is being placed for players who have completed two full seasons with the club.
   
9. Recruiting efforts are on-going. Do your best to spread the word about Saratoga Rugby. What keeps us from being able to play D-III is a legitimate B-Side and we currently don't have enough players on a regular basis to field one.
10. Mike Kotary has replaced Alex Eves as the P.O.C. for Malta and Shenantaha Creek Park as Eves is moving to Chicago.
11. Anyone interested in filling the role of equipment manager, please contact Paco as Nick DeFilippo's college class schedule prevents him from attending training sessions on time for the fall.

The fall season schedule:

September 1	Mt. Washington Valley Bull Moose	Home
September 8 Utica Clubs or Albany Old Boys Home September 15 Bye Weekend
September 22	Harvard Business School	Home
September 29	Boston Ironsides	Boston, MA
October 6	Monadnock	Home
October 13	Berkshire	Pittsfield, MA
October 20	Mad River/Stowe	Stowe, VT

October 27 Bye Weekend for Playoff Teams

November 3 Playoffs and Championships

Spring Schedule Broken Down: A Look at What 2007 Should Bring

With recruiting events over and meetings in the past, it is time to put the actual playing of rugby in the forefront and get back to why we work so hard to bring rugby along off the pitch: to be a successful club on the pitch.

For the casual fan, there are several points of interest this spring. If you have been following the club since its inception in 2006, the club has played two dozen games against 14 different teams. This season brings further variety of competition. The team will open against a college side, scrimmaging Union College in Schenectady on April 7th. They follow that up with a trip to Rutland, the third time that they have played their friendly rivals from Vermont. After a week off, the schedule becomes very formidable against Division III teams (Being new to league play, Saratoga is D-IV).

First, the club travels to New London on April 28th, a good team who gave the Stampede some real trouble in their fourth overall game last year. The club hopes that a year in between meetings will yield more favorable results compared to the 52-12 drubbing of 2006. Perennial powerhouse from the north, Montreal, will roll in with a full contingency of sides (full A and B sides) on May 5th. This match will be a good measuring stick as to how the team deals with experienced, veteran competition. This is also the first meeting between Montreal and Saratoga.

On May 12th, the club travels to take on the Hudson Valley Rebels, whose president is a former team mate with Stampede Vice-President Pike Mody. The Rebels met the Stampede in tournament play during last August, in the 8th Annual Saratoga Invitational, and dealt the Stampede a sound loss, so this rematch should also be a tough match for the growing club.

Finally, the club takes on the first team with less experience than they have. On May 19th, the newly formed Utica Klubs make the pilgrimage to Saratoga for the first time for an inaugural meeting versus the Stampede. The Utica Klubs have been practicing since January and are staffed with young, but experienced players, and should provide an exciting match for the Stampede, who currently are comprised mostly of players in their late teens and early twenties and older players in their early to mid thirties. And who can forget, of course, graybeard Rick Babson, who celebrated his 52nd birthday during the off season.

In my next entry, I will preview some of the more interesting competitions that are sure to arise as the season gets underway. With some veterans retiring or unable to play due to injury and/or work commitments, it should be intriguing to see the moves that Coach Mick O'Dalaigh and the spring captains make in order to put a strong team on the field. Last year saw flankers moving to center and one second row from the first game become one of the team's regular centers, while the other second row became the team's regular 8-man. This spring has the potential of seeing a fly-half become a hook, or a completely rookie break in at prop. As the battles for starting positions unfold, check back to the Stampede Blog for details.

A reminder that the team will still play pick-up touch rugby on Sundays at 1PM. Contact Matt Volke for details. Official practice begins on March 20th.

With Recruiting Events Complete, Pre-Season Meeting is Next on Tap

The two recruiting events went off without a hitch in the last five days. The tables at both the Wilton Mall and Skidmore were well received if not exactly flocked with people. The main point was to spread word about men's and women's rugby in Saratoga and I think we accomplished just that. Many people, as expected, mentioned they had no idea that rugby existed in Saratoga County. We were able to hand out fliers and info pamphlets to prospective players and fans of the club.

Next on tap (literally) are two events. The first is the Spring Pre-Season Meeting which occurs tonight at Peabody's Bar and Grill at 39 Phila Street in Saratoga Springs, kicking off at 7:00. The officers have worked hard to keep the meeting to less than an hour (hopefully 45 minutes) with a Q & A session afterwards. After the meeting, several members of the team will taste test the provisions of one of our local sponsors, Saratoga Eagle Distributing, to assess quality control. Anyone who is interested in the sport of rugby, as either a player or just as a casual fan of the sport, is encouraged to attend.

Secondly, as a sort of pseudo-recruiting type event will be an informal pub crawl around Saratoga Springs. It will start at 7:00 PM at Peabody's on Saturday, February 24th and move on from there as the mood strikes the pack. Friends, relatives, and significant others are welcome to attend the crawl. We even have one wayward fan driving in from Utica, NY to attend the event.

Speaking of Utica, it might interest our rugby community to know that we are not the only team growing in Upstate New York. The Utica Klubs RFC was established last month and will be travelling to Saratoga to take on your Saratoga Stampede RFC on May 19th. I for one am psyched to see any rugby development of rugby in this part of the state, especially when it means that we have a club to travel to that is under 90 minutes away. Along with the Capital District Youth Rugby (CDYR) Initiative, it appears that the sport is finally starting to take off in more than some of the more major of New York's six metro areas (NYC, Albany, Binghampton, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo).

That is all for this early morning blog. If you have any questions regarding either SRFC event or about Utica Rugby, please feel free to drop me an e-mail.

Happy 31st Birthday to one of the club's founding fathers, Owen Maranville!