Women end Fall Season 4-5

The Lady Mudtutles have wrapped up their lengthy fall season spanning August – November with a 4-5 record! In our second year of Division 2 competition, we came up just shy of a playoff spot. We are proud of our progress. Next year, Playoff bound!

October 12, 2019 – Union 5 - Danbury 28

We travelled up to CT to face a physical Danbury side. The Lady Mudturtles were short on backs and seemed to be on the back foot all day. The lone try came from #13 Mercedez Roper. WOM honors went to #4 who Kelsey Giggenbach switched from the centers to the pack this season and did an incredible job sealing off rucks and holding down a tricky scrum. Ninja Turtle Aries Zamora #8 was all intensity all the time and led the team on offense with strong runs and help forming pods. Thank you to Danbury for a physical match ad great social!

October 19, 2019 – Union 28 – New Haven 0

New Haven forfeited our home match, but conveniently, Montclair State Women were also on the positive side of a forfeit that weekend. We scrimmaged our sister school in a fun rugby day at Unami coming out with a W.

October 26, 2019 – Union 0 – Village Lions 37

Another tough day for the Mudturtles against the top team in our division. Kudos to the Village Lions for being both quick to move the ball and strong on the breakdowns. We selected WOM Victoria Steele. In her first start at #8, our former flyhalf made some hard runs, made some crushing tackles, and proved herself to belong with the forwards! Ninja Turtle went to Jessie Kaminskyj who is brand new to rugby this season but improving every game! Jessie is super strong and takes multiple defenders to bring her down. She even had a 30 yard run through the defense against the Village Lions.

November 2, 2019 – Union 18 – Uticuse 15

We saved the best for last! What an amazing game to end our season. Big thank you to Uticuse who drove down to us for the match for providing a fun and competitive game right up until the final whistle! Uticuse opened up the scoring in the first half, but Union answered right back with a strong run from #13 Mercedez Roper. The first half was back and forth with Uticuse and Union again trading tries. Lock Steffi Villagomez touched down next for Union after an offload from #10 Ashley Purper. 10-10 at the half. The score remained tied for much of the second half. At the 60^th minute, #8 Victoria Steele carried a strong ball to the outside and managed to get an offload off to Mercedez Roper for a clear lane to the corner of the try zone. The conversion was no good, and the two teams battled back and forth for the next 15 minutes with Union fighting to maintain control and Uticuse working hard to win the ball back. A lucky penalty planted kicker Villagomez just off the center of the posts where she nailed the ball through! Now down 18-10, Uticuse fought hard to get on the board and scored a try in the corner just as the final whistle blew. Final score: 18-15. WOM honors went to Prop Jen Cortez whose big hits, big runs, and full 80 of intensity set the tone for the team and prevented Uticuse from gaining any ground. Ninja Turtle Ashley Purper had an awesome game directing the offense, making some big runs, and directly assisting the trys on the scoreboard.