USU women’s rugby struggles against in-state rival BYU
Inexperience was the cause of the 36-7 loss the Utah State women’s rugby team suffered against BYU Saturday on the HPER Field, said team captain Becca Ogden.
“They [BYU] are a really experienced team and our inexperience showed a little bit, but overall I think we played with a lot of heart and nobody gave up,” she said. “We just need to have confidence in ourselves.”
From the opening minute it was evident that BYU was more
experienced.
Although the Aggies came out fighting, BYU was able to keep the ball on USU’s side most of the game and if it wasn’t for the fight the Aggies gave on the goal line, the Cougars could have scored two or three more times.
The Aggies ended up playing goal-line defense much of the game.
After holding the Cougars for about three minutes near the goal line, the first try of the match was scored as BYU kept pushing forward forcing the ball forward causing USU to give in.
Less than 10 minutes later, following a string of catching and passing errors, BYU received the ball back and scored off a 20-yard run, but that didn’t stop the Aggies from trying to play their game.
Only minutes after the Cougars scored their second try, the Aggies scored a try of their own off of a combined effort from forwards Rebecca Young, Rachael Ritchie and Michele Olpin.
The first half ended 12-7 for BYU, and it looked as if the match was going to be interesting.
But the second half proved to be all BYU’s as it went on to score four more tries and keep the Aggies without a point.
“I knew it would be a challenge, because they just won a tournament in Las Vegas, so all things considered, I think we did well against them,” said strong wing Whitney Warr.
BYU has 13 of 15 starters returning from last year, giving them a huge advantage against newer teams like USU, Ogden said, yet the Aggies still don’t feel that BYU was much better than USU.
Olpin said part of the Aggies’ trouble with Saturday’s game was that they weren’t able to advance the ball after their passes.
“We’re not gaining any ground off of our passes, we’re just passing the ball backward,” she said. “Our passing is clean we just need to advance [the ball].
-csmo@cc.usu.edu