Maddogs Fall to Norwich

Wednesday October, 11 2006
By: Justin Dishart

After two strong victories at home, the Maddogs went on the road this past weekend to face Norwich University. The Maddogs faced adversity from the opening kick as the match was played on Homecoming Weekend and Norwich had the support of a large number of cadets in attendance.

Northeastern controlled play early on. After an opening breakaway by John LeBlanc the Maddogs were stopped short of the posts and driven back to midfield. The Maddogs continued their aggressive play and were able to spin a Norwich scrum and set up the backs for another drive until an intercepted pass by the Fly-half led to a Norwich try under the posts to open up the scoring. The kick was converted making the score 7-0 and for the first time in over two games the Maddogs trailed.

Northeastern continued to dominate possession and found themselves deep in Norwich territory before a penalty for diving over a ruck turned the ball over and erased the gain in field position. On their ensuing possession a Norwich center was able to break through the Northeastern defensive line and move within 10 meters of the try line before being tackled. Norwich was able to maintain their momentum and score on the left side of the posts. The conversion left Northeastern on the wrong side of a 14-0 shutout.

The Maddogs responded quickly as Dave McDermott scored off of a pass from Ben Miller bringing the score to 14-5. With just under six minutes left in the half McDermott had another outstanding run as he fielded an errant kick by Norwich just inside their half. McDermott started left and then cut back to the right outrunning everyone and going virtually untouched for a score in the right corner. With the score 14-10, Norwich was able to score on a maul in the right corner to bring the score to 21-10 at the half.

Northeastern came out of the half with a refreshed intensity and five minutes into the second frame McDermott completed the hat trick with his third score of the match. After the conversion was successful by Finn Davis the score stood at 21-17. Norwich battled back and had numerous scrums from five meters out but the Northeastern defense was able to mount a successful stand and eventually cause a Norwich penalty. The Maddogs played off the emotion of their defensive stop and quickly moved down the field. After a Northeastern scrum from the five meter line, David Carmichael was able to dive across the line for a try. The difficult kick was converted by Davis and for the first time in the match the Maddogs led 24-21 with just under twenty minutes left to play.

Northeastern’s score to take the lead only momentarily silenced the Norwich supporters. After a long defensive stand inside their own twenty-two meter line, Northeastern gave up the go-ahead score with just under ten minutes to play. Norwich converted the kick and took a 28-24 lead. Needing a try late in the game the Maddogs maintained possession and slowly moved down field. The Northeastern attack stalled at about the ten meter line and Norwich’s defense was able to run out the clock and eventually kick the ball to touch to end the game. The loss evened the Maddogs record to 2-2.

Northeastern travels to Amherst this Saturday to take on UMass at 12:30 PM.

Directions to UMass Amherst

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