Rugby State Play Offs - Girls.

The first round of the state play-offs took place this week with the East
Metro Bulldogs competing in both the Boys Tournament and the Girls
Tournament. It was especially tough with short week to prepare and rain
canceling practice on Tuesday. Both teams played on a rain drenched
Wednesday. The Girls are playing off for the state cup championship of the
top 8 teams and the boys playing in the plate division composed of the 2nd
8 teams, barely missing the cup division.

The East Metro Girls Rugby Team (seeded 5th) traveled to Hopkins (seeded
4th) . The teams were evenly matched about 18 on both sides where 15 from
each team are on the pitch. Hopkins kicked off to eager Bulldogs who
usually take a few minutes to get their heads into the match. After a
knock-on and scrum to Hopkins their back line anchored by their coaches
daughter Katie Johnson who broke a tackle before being cornered by the
Bulldogs but she was able to dish off the ball and Hopkins scored 5 minutes
into the match. the kick was successful giving Hopkins a 7-0 lead.

The Bulldogs fought back lead by captain Becca Golden who quick tapped on a
couple penalty plays to drive to within 5 meters of the Hopkins try line.
The East Metro team ended up playing the far majority of the first half in
the Hopkins end of the pitch, but their defense stiffened the closer the
Bulldogs came close to scoring. The half ended 7-0 and was about the time
when the sky opened up and the rain came down It made the ball handling
even tougher and caused many dropped kicks.

Seniors become very busy this time of year and the Bulldogs were missing
the ruggers who play the #2 position but did the best they could. We
ended up loosing 9 of 12 scrums which was a real disadvantage for the East
Metro team not to be able to run the ball. However Nicole Peterson stepped
up to not only win the Bulldog lines outs but also to win many from
Hopkins. Best match of the year for Nicole who has been troubled with a
sore back all year but has played through it. It was also great for
Azimina Bachelani who returned after a knee injury which sidelined her for
most of the season, but came back to make some great tackles. Taking over
for Azmina was Emily Bandholz who has improved each match and plays a
strong flanker.

Speaking of tackles Shannon Grimmer & Jenny Wirth and especially Alex Smith
had smothering defense. It started with Jamie Smith applying pressure to
the scrumhalf, not allowing her to make clean passes to the back line then
Grimmer, Wirth, Sara Lentsch, and Smith shut down Katie Johnson from
making any more gains the remainder of the match. Shannon Grimmer also
added some well-placed penalty kicks to gain back significant ground
gains. Alisa Splide played well at fullback despite the rough ball
handling from the kicks and Jasmin Breiden had her best match supporting
Alisa and making good runs of her own.

The Bulldogs could not advance much beyond the gain line (like the line of
scrimmage in football) partially due to the slippery ball but also to the
credit of the Hopkins defense. The match ended 7 - 0 Hopkins. East
Metro Girls will now play-off for 5th place in state with matches held at
the National Sports center in Blaine on Saturday June 9th.