Kilfoil ties game with late try, as #4 ranked women's rugby rally for overtime win in New England semi's

Junior scrumhalf Maeghan Kilfoil dove across the line for the tying try with two minutes left, and the Stonehill ladies (7-0) would dominate the twenty minute overtime period scoring three times en route to a 23-10 victory over the University of Vermont (4-3) in Brunswick, Maine.

After a scoreless first half where the bigger UVM team posed several problems for the smaller but quicker Stonehill team, sophomore flanker Taryn Blume would put the purple and black on top 5-0.   A devastating try zone tackle by Kilfoil would pop the ball free from the UVM fly-half, allowing the alert Blume to fall on it for the score.   5 minutes later, the team lost its starting fly-half, Junior Laura Fischer to a back injury, leading to a long  delay in the game and causing a switch of fields.  After their teammate was gone, the ladies seemed extremely deflated, soon after lost their focus completely.  UVM would take control of the game, scoring on twice in rapid succession to take a 10-5 lead with less than ten minutes to go.  With the final five minutes upon them, and their season hanging in the balance, the ladies finally awoke, putting pressure on the Vermont team, which would lead to the Kilfoil heroics.  Junior Inside Center Katie O'Malley, filling in at Fly-half for the injured Fischer would barely miss the conversion, sending the game into overtime.

In the extra session the Ladies from the Hill would not be denied.  O'Malley calmly slotted a huge penalty kick 6 minutes in, to give the ladies a lead they would never relinquish at 13-10.  Junior Flanker Ashley George would score on a long break down the side line, and as the two teams switched sides for the final ten minutes, the ladies led 18-10.  Junior Hooker Olivia Gorab would put the finishing touches on in as she dove over the line off a rolling maul just before the referees final whistle.  "That was a tough one," commented Head coach Derek Jenesky after the game," After we lost Fischer we seemed pretty dead until Kilfoil bailed us out.  In the overtime however, they showed how they can be one of the best teams in the country when they play hard and together." 

The ladies will play tomorrow, Sunday, against the #1 ranked team in the country, Norwich University, for the New England Championship.