Mary Washington Sees Off Belmont Abbey
Mary Washington Sees Off Belmont Abbey
Mary Washington defeated Belmont Abbey 36-11 Saturday in a non-conference early-season warmup for both.
In the futures game UMW’s team ran away from the Crusaders 59-0. Freshman Abel Kebede was unstoppable and sophomore Nick White was a man possessed, often needing three tacklers to subdue him. Mathew Clinton played an excellent game all over, executing a perfect series of throws and scrums. Sam Gorey continues to build on his performances.
In the 1st-side game, the teams traded penalty goals early on to make it 3-3. UMW defended well and their physicality started to make its effect felt as the game wore on. Mary Washington added a try and Belmont Abbey a penalty for a 10-6 halftime scoreline. Ahead bby five, UMW was nonetheless not too happy with how they were executing and certainly their goal in the second half was to find and exploit space rather than just tuck it and run.
Freshman Andrew Evan, who just finished a very impressive HS career with Vienna, was outstanding at center and continued to make ground. Fullback Sebastian Scheffermann started to see gaps in the defense which led to springing wings sophomore Yann Aubert and junior Conor Foster for long runs and, eventually, tries.
It was a hot day so the youngsters came in off the bench relatively early to spell some of the players. The Mothers' freshmen, such as lock Bobby Mulvey and prop Olli Davies, along with sophomore hooker Tom Williams, made a nice impact.
Davies scored a late try as UMW finished strong in the final 20 minutes. Prop Cam Giwa and No. 8 Nick Ball kept the work rate high, as did flankers Lloyd Stephens and Tobey Barnfield-Lee
Also playing effectively were backs Will Lindsay (flyhalf), who got over the tryline, and freshman Harvey Payne.
With UMW down to 14 players due to a yellow card, Belmont Abbey was able to score a try to finish it off 36-11.
This was a very good showing from a Mary Washington team that is now in D1A and will be looking to a hugely challenging Rugby East schedule. Fellow Rugby East teams Navy, Mount St. Mary's, and Southern Virginia all won this weekend.
