ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Adrian College Women's Rugby team dropped their season opener to the University of Michigan on Friday night, by a score of 46-21.
The Wolverines jumped out to an early first-half lead, going up 19-0 before Adrian could find the end zone. The Bulldogs then tallied on a try by #13,
Kaliyah Hewitt, followed by a conversion from #9,
Madison Williamson. Michigan would then score four more consecutive tries, while only making one of four conversions, bringing the score to 41-7.
Adrian battled back with another try, this time from #23,
Ariel Rathell and conversion from #10,
Pendo Miregi to make it 41-14 before Michigan found the end zone once more, but failing the conversion to make it 46-14. Adrian's #19,
Dajah Quinney, would end the game with one final try for the Bulldogs, while Miregi converted once more to make the final 46-21.
Head Coach,
Mike Bowen, had this to stay about his team's opening performance:
"It was a hard-fought match today between us and Michigan! They're coming off of an NCR championship and play like they're looking for a repeat. Their power in the scrums kept us on the back foot, and their work at the breakdowns showed us where we need to improve. When we did have ball in hand our forwards packed a punch and our back line was lethal. Our tackling kept us in the game, and our freshmen showed their heart and physicality in tackles! I'm incredibly proud of the way our women stuck together through the match and figured things out in the heat of battle. We have the foundations of an amazing team and will keep working together to reach our full potential."
The Women's Rugby team will be back in action on September 8th when they take on Davenport University at 7:00PM at Docking Stadium.
