Men's Rugby Overtakes Roanoke, Women Fall to UMW

By John Graham
Community Submission Men's Rugby Overwhelms Roanoke College

The rain stopped long enough to allow a crowd of 300 to see the Longwood men's rugby team recover from its recent loss and dominate Roanoke College 66-0. Roanoke College rugby is a new team in the Virginia Rugby Union (VRU) and is an offshoot of the Roanoke men's club. Being new, not much was known prior to the game about their style of play. Any doubts about the outcome of the game were put to rest early as the LU forwards, led by Austin Lux, TJ Van Petten and "Lumberjack" Betz scored early and often as the home team ran out to a 35-0 halftime lead.

As play continued in the second half, LU substituted liberally but the outcome was the same with five more tries and 31 total points culminating with a rare drop goal by fullback Dustin Meadows. Lux led the scoring with 18 points (five conversions, one penalty kick, one try) with Jesse Kelly, Betz, and Dan Waite adding two tries each and Jay Kennedy, Van Petten and Paul Brockman with one try each.

The team travels to Roanoke this weekend to compete for the Ed Lee Trophy, symbolic of the Virginia Rugby Union State Championship. Longwood will be seeking its fourth title in six years. They will play Washington and Lee in the semi-final round. The other semi-final game features Christopher Newport University (CNU) vs. Hampden-Sydney College (H-SC). The semi-final winners play Sunday for the title.


Womens Rugby Falls to Mary Washington

The Longwood women's rugby team fell to a determined University of Mary Washington (UMW) team Saturday 35-7. Last year the women went undefeated and in the process beat UMW 2 times including the VRU championship game. UMW scored early to take a 5-0 lead and again at the 25 minute mark to go up 10-0. Emily Laura scored as the half wound down to close the gap to 10-5 at the break and Longwood was looking to improve their game and close the gap further. Unfortunately, injuries and a yellow card ejection left LU undermanned and unable to score again. Ashlee Irby and Nikole Widder-Varhegyi played outstanding games in defeat and Lizzie Mitchell played outstanding defense making many key tackles.

The team travels to Roanoke this weekend to compete for the Sandy Lee Trophy, symbolic of the Virginia Rugby Union State Championship. Longwood will be seeking its second consecutive title. They will play UMW in a rematch in the semi-final round. The other semi-final game features William & Mary (W&M) vs. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). The semi-final winners play Sunday for the title.