Dartmouth Completes Comeback to Win Ivy Rugby Championship

Sunday, November 8

Hanover, N.H.

1:30 PM

Dartmouth College

Brown

Dartmouth Completes Comeback to Win Ivy Rugby Championship

11/8/2015 3:10:00 PM | Women's Rugby

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – The Dartmouth women's rugby team erased a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat Brown, 19-12, Sunday afternoon and win the 2015 Ivy Rugby Conference Championship at Brophy Field.

The Big Green (7-1) scored all 19 of their points after halftime with Audrey Perez's try in the 82nd minute breaking the 12-12 tie and giving Dartmouth the title. The try and conversion came in extra time and proved to be a back-breaker for the Bears (5-2) who were unable to hold off the resurgent home team.

“The conditions played a big role today,” head coach Katie Dowty said. “It was really difficult to play out of our end and into the wind today, but after halftime, we still felt fresh and now we had the wind at our backs. That made us believe we could overcome a 12-point deficit.

“We really put it together this week,” Dowty added. “The focus was great but our self-belief really kicked into affect.”

Brown carried a 12-0 lead into the break thanks to a try each from Uzo Okoro and Kiki Morgan with a conversion from Rebecca Dahle on the game's opening score.

However, where the Bears were successful in the first match-up between these two teams earlier this fall — a strong defense near the tryline — was what proved to be a weakness on Sunday.

Dartmouth scored three tries in the second half with senior co-captains Tatjana Toeldte and Yejadai Dunn getting in from relatively close midway through the frame. Coupled with the first of Camille Johnson's two successful conversions of the day, the Dunn try in the 59th minute pulled the teams even and set up for the late-game dramatics.

With both teams playing solid defense in the midfield, the game seemed destined for overtime with the conference crown on the line.

However, the Big Green were not going to be denied by their rivals from Providence in the title game for the second year in a row. Gaining possession near midfield as the clock passed 80:00 and into extra time, Dartmouth kept pushing Brown further and further back into its own end.

That's when Perez took a feed from one of her teammates and drove through a wall of defenders for the try and the first lead of the afternoon for the Green and White. Johnson tacked on another two points to make it a seven-point game with another conversion to cap the comeback.

Dartmouth will now turn its attention to the national varsity tournament that begins next week. The Big Green will host Norwich Saturday, Nov. 14 at Brophy Field in the quarterfinals. Game time is scheduled for 11 a.m.

Check back with DartmouthSports.com this week for more information about the postseason tournament.