Big Green Advance to NIRA Final Following Victory over Army

Friday, November 16

Hanover, N.H.

12:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Army West Point

Senior Karina Martinez

Photo by: Doug Austin

Big Green Advance to NIRA Final Following Victory over Army

11/16/2018 2:12:00 PM | Women's Rugby

Photos by Doug Austin

By: Charlotte Brackett

HANOVER, N.H. – A strong second half lifted top-seeded Dartmouth women's rugby to a 26-7 win over No. 4 Army West Point in the NIRA Semifinal at Scully-Fahey Field on Friday.

The Big Green overcame the snow, the cold and a change of location to improve to 8-1 overall, while the Black Knights saw their season end with a 4-5 mark.

"I am incredibly proud of the team for overcoming all sorts of adversity today," head coach Katie Dowty said. "We had some tough breaks in the first half, but played fierce defense to hold Army to seven points in icy conditions. In the second half, we managed to play the ball to the spaces we needed to break the game open. Karina Martinez made an incredible impact off the bench.

"Despite the weather, the atmosphere in the stands was incredible," Dowty continued. "Thank you to all our fans who braved the storm. We also couldn't have done it without the Dartmouth grounds crew, who made the day possible despite the Nor'easter. This win goes to them as well!"

Dartmouth put pressure on Army from the start, controlling the ball until freshman Ariana Ramsey was able to force her way through the Black Knights for her first collegiate try eight and a half minutes in. Not long after, Army had stolen some of that control. The Black Knights were awarded a penalty try while a Dartmouth player got a yellow card, giving the visitors a slight edge (7-5). The teams played through four extra minutes, but Army took its lead to the second half.

A waved off Dartmouth try less than 30 seconds into the second half did not deter the Big Green, which were back three minutes later when senior Karina Martinez scored her fifth try of the season to give the advantage back to the Big Green (12-7). The Black Knights continued to play well defensively, but could not stop freshmen Ale Ada and Emily Henrich from scoring. Add two conversions by senior Camille Johnson and Dartmouth now had a comfortable 26-7 lead with 13 minutes to play.

Army never stopped trying to score again, but Dartmouth got in the way each time.

For the second year in a row, the Big Green will make an appearance in the NIRA Final. Dartmouth will face the winner of the Harvard/Quinnipiac game at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Scully-Fahey.