The Brooklyn Rugby Club women earned an impressive 22-12 victory over former Women’s Premier League powerhouse, Beantown RFC, this weekend. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn men traveled out to eastern Long Island and lost a very physical 46-10 contest to Montauk RFC.
Following two road matches to open the 2014 season, the Brooklyn women hosted a strong Beantown team in their home opener on Saturday. This was a game where defense would prove to be pivotal for Brooklyn against a Beantown team that has won six national championships since 1980. After Brooklyn narrowly missed their first penalty conversion, Kyla Maxwell used a tap-and-go off of a penalty to weave between the Beantown defense and secure the game’s first try, putting Brooklyn up 5-0 after the conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
Shortly thereafter, Beantown responded with a try of their own and, with a successful conversion, took a brief 5-7 lead. But Brooklyn answered right back, pushing inside the opposition’s 22-meter line and earning a penalty conversion from Kyla Maxwell, bringing the score to 8-7. Then with five minutes left in the first half Brooklyn added back-to-back tries by Natalia Szymanski off of brilliant support runs that were set up by flawless offloads from Ashleigh Bepko. Maxwell connected on both conversions bringing the halftime score to 22-7.
Beantown added one more try at the midway point of the second half, but it was not enough as the Brooklyn women held on for a decisive 22-12 victory at home.
Brooklyn: 22 – Beantown: 12
Tries: Kyla Maxwell, Natalia Szymanski (2)
Conversions: Kyla Maxwell (2)
Penalties Conversions: Kyla Maxwell
The Brooklyn men traveled out to eastern Long Island to face Montauk RFC, a team Brooklyn defeated in its opening match of the 2013 season. With that loss still lingering in their minds coming into Saturday’s match, the men from Montauk came out hard. The first few minutes of the match remained scoreless and Brooklyn took an early 3-0 lead following a penalty conversion from Gennaro Anzalone inside the Montauk 22-meter line. But that would be the team’s lone score in the first half. Brooklyn often found itself deep in its own half and handling errors and missed tackles ruled the day for the men in black and blue. Montauk went into halftime with a 34-3 lead.
Brooklyn added its first and only try early in the second half, after Dan Newcombe touched down off of a maul. But that would be the extent of Brooklyn’s scoring on the day, as Montauk added two more tries in the second half and secured a 46-10 victory at home.
Montauk: 46 – Brooklyn: 10
Tries: Dan Newcombe
Conversions: Gennaro Anzalone
Penalty Conversions: Gennaro Anzalone
Thanks to Brooklyn Daily Eagle for the coverage on these matches.
Upcoming Matches:
Brooklyn Men: vs. Village Lions – Saturday, September 27 @ 1:00pm, Fort Hamilton Military Base, Brooklyn, NY
Brooklyn Women: @ Charles River – Saturday, September 27 @ 1:00pm, Worcester, MA
For the full match schedule, click here.