Saturday, September 25th, 2004
By Drew Hamlin

The Maddogs traveled to Durham, NH to play UNH on a great day for rugby. The Dogs set the pace early with strong pressure on defense, tackling the UNH fly half after forcing him to bring the ball into their own try zone, giving the Maddogs a five meter scrum. After a couple of crash balls, the Dogs were able to suck in the UNH defense allowing a quick ball through the hands, creating a hole for Gil Danaher to score under the posts. After a missed conversion, the Dogs had an early led, 5-0.

UNH would not be deterred and continued to play tough rugby. They were awarded a penalty just outside of the 22 meter line and opted to kick for points, which was the best opportunity UNH had to score in the first half. UNH was unable to convert. The Maddogs were given their own opportunity for points a few minutes later. Ben Miller was able to convert, giving the Dogs an 8-0 lead. The Dogs continued their strong play, when off a line out, the backs were able to move the ball across the field through the hands, ending with a tackle about 5 meters out. A quick ball across the field again, through backs and forwards, caught the UNH defense scrambling and allowed the wing, Rob Sattler, to score in the corner. With a missed conversion, the Maddogs led 13-0.

The Dogs were able to put one more in before half-time. A scrum was awarded to the Dogs just inside UNH’s half. A weak side run allowed a two on one, which the Maddogs took advantage of, permitting the other wing, Rob Hunter, to score under the posts. The converted kick gave the Maddogs a 20-0 lead. UNH did have a couple attempts, but their undisciplined play gave away penalties the times they did put together a scoring drive.

Much of the second half was a stalemate. This stalemate lulled the Maddogs into a little bit of complacency. UNH took advantage of this by scoring a try and starting a small comeback, making the score 20-5. A few minutes later, UNH was able to score again after a few missed tackles by the Dogs and a great run with support by UNH, changing the score to 20-10. However, the undisciplined play really hurt UNH after two sin bins and a player red carded after a high tackle. The Maddogs were able to take advantage of UNH playing men down and seal the game. About 22 meters out, Ben Miller placed a chip kick over the oncoming UNH backline and collected it just short of the try line. With no UNH players around, Ben was easily able to place the ball down under the posts. He converted the kick, giving the Dogs a 27-10 lead.

Next Week: The Maddogs play at home against UMass Amherst at 1:00 pm.