Bandits Rattle the Mudhens in Season Opener (9/5/09)

In the club opener for the 2010 season, the Budd Bay Bandits came out fighting in their inaugural Division I Women's Rugby season. Despite the 20-17 loss, the Bandits maintained solid possession for most of the match, spending the majority of time in the Mudhen red zone, and exhibited strong defensive skills that will only get stronger as the . A very impressive start for the Bandits...

Thanks to Alex Goff for the great update (below). To read the full article, go to:
http://www.erugbynews.com/article.php?sec=131&a=5378

The Emerald City Mudhens survived a huge scare in the opening round of the women’s Competitive Region 1 DI league, scoring two second-half tries to edge DI debutants Budd Bay 20-17 Saturday in Lacey, Wash.

Budd Bay, which played a shadow DI competition in 2008-09, was playing their first ever DI game and shocked the Mudhens with their wide open style of play.

Good work from hooker Maggie McLaughlin set up center Ellie Linn for a try in the 15^th minute, which put Budd Bay ahead. U23 All-StarMegan Sanders hit the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

The teams traded tries, with Angela Watkins crashing in from close range for the Bandits and the Mudhens getting tries from Sarah Falk and Katie Fuskarud before Budd Bay scrumhalf Marion Foor sniped in to make it 17-10 Budd Bay at the break.

In the second half the Mudhens had the better of tight play and used that to their advantage. With neither team able to throw in straight at the lineout, the game became more scrum-oriented, and that, along with some Budd Bay penalties, helps the Mudhens come back.

Scrumhalf and captain Kammi Lopez and center Janey Yoo scored to give the Mudhens the lead, and a sterling late goal line stand - punctuated by a try-saving tackle by fullback Liz Pallas-Jacobs - kept the Budd Bay women from crashing over the line and winning the match. "We spent the first half playing their game and their tempo,” said Lopez. “And we got in trouble.”

For Budd Bay, which is only a couple of years old and featured two starters just a year out of U19 rugby, it was a very creditable result.

“I’m proud of them,” said coach Chris Cousins. “I thought our backline played awesome. We tackled really well and overall our defense was very strong, and we were much fitter than we’ve been in the past. But we committed some crucial penalties and we had problems being strong in the rucks. That will come in time.”

The Mudhens move to 1-0 and Budd Bay starts their season 0-1. Next week Budd Bay travels to Arizona to play the Scottsdale Women.

Emerald City Mudhens 20
Tries: Falk, Fuskarud, Lopez, Yoo

Budd Bay 17
Tries: Linn, Watkins, Foor
Convs: Sanders