tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24959775154144877162011-04-21T20:32:20.334-07:00East Metro Bulldos Rugbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00960653520216512500noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495977515414487716.post-67216586443197199392007-06-02T15:36:00.000-07:002007-06-03T11:58:12.912-07:00<span style="font-size:85%;">The East Metro Bulldogs Boys team hosted the St. Michael - Albertville team<br />also on Wednesday. Again two very even teams with the lead changing hands<br />5 times in the match. The Bulldogs were on the board first 3 - 0 with a<br />30 meter penalty kick by Spencer Guse who is probably the best kicker the<br />boys have had in the 15 years since the start of the program. Not only<br />does Spencer make the placed kicks from penalties but also sends out<br />booming punts for gains for 40 -50 meters.<br /><br />Soon after Spencer's kick, St. Michael came storming back and took<br />advantage of the Bulldogs who have a few new players starting late in the<br />season and have not had the time to learn team play. After sloppy coverage<br />off of a maul, the St. Michael team found a gap in the Bulldog defense and<br />scored a try and a conversion to take over the lead 3 - 7.<br /><br />Showing some of our inexperience, Spencer put up another booming kick but<br />found himself the only one trying to tackle the St. Michael opposition.<br />soon after Spencer had another opportunity and this time it was standout<br />Chris Cunniingham together with Spencer trapping St. Michael and took<br />advantage of the poorly handled kick. Chris put on the moves and speed to<br />score the Bulldogs first try. After the conversion by Spencer the score is<br />now Bulldogs 10 St. Michael 7.<br /><br />St. Michael came back and driving deep in Bulldog territory, pulled ahead<br />with a try of their own to lead 10 - 12 St. Michael 2 point conversion<br />failed).<br />The rain came pouring down and the wet ball became hard to handle and was<br />dropped many times through the remainder of the match. The see-saw battle<br />continued with each side driving to within 22 meters of the others goal ,<br />only to be turned back and find themselves defending inside their own 22.<br /><br />Midway through the second half the Bulldogs finally broke through when the<br />ball passed through he back line in text book form from Guse to Cunningham,<br />to Mat Pilarski to rookie Joe Lynch ( coaches son) who scored in the corner<br />of the try zone for a 15-12 Bulldog lead.<br /><br />As time was running out, St. Michael was working their way deep in Bulldog<br />territory only to be denied by Guse launching off yet another clearing<br />kick. After one kick East Metro was caught off-side by having a rugger<br />make a play on a ball without being passed up by Spencer thus being in an<br />offside position. St. Michael was awarded a penalty kick 30-35 meters<br />from the posts but elected to run with the ball instead after exchanges of<br />penalties, the Bulldogs continued to stiffen on defense and held back the<br />charge of St. Michael. the game ended after a long penalty kick for<br />touch. Final Score East Metro 15 St. Michael-Albertville 12.<br /><br />The East Metro Bulldog Boys will continue their quest for first place in<br />the MN State Rugby Plate Championship on Saturday June 9th at eh National<br />Sports Center in Blaine.<br /><br />rewritten by Terry Miller from notes of Coach Jeff Lynch</span><script><!-- D(["mb","does Spencer make the placed kicks from penalties but also sends out\u003cbr /\>booming punts for gains for 40 -50 meters.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>Soon after Spencer\'s kick, St. Michael came storming back and took\u003cbr /\>advantage of the Bulldogs who have a few new players starting late in the\u003cbr /\>season and have not had the time to learn team play. After sloppy coverage\u003cbr /\>off of a maul, the St. Michael team found a gap in the Bulldog defense and\u003cbr /\>scored a try and a conversion to take over the lead 3 - 7.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>Showing some of our inexperience, Spencer put up another booming kick but\u003cbr /\>found himself the only one trying to tackle the St. Michael opposition.\u003cbr /\>soon after Spencer had another opportunity and this time it was standout\u003cbr /\>Chris Cunniingham together with Spencer trapping St. Michael and took\u003cbr /\>advantage of the poorly handled kick. Chris put on the moves and speed to\u003cbr /\>score the Bulldogs first try. After the conversion by Spencer the score is\u003cbr /\>now Bulldogs 10 St. Michael 7.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>St. Michael came back and driving deep in Bulldog territory, pulled ahead\u003cbr /\>with a try of their own to lead 10 - 12 St. Michael 2 point conversion\u003cbr /\>failed).\u003cbr /\>The rain came pouring down and the wet ball became hard to handle and was\u003cbr /\>dropped many times through the remainder of the match. The see-saw battle\u003cbr /\>continued with each side driving to within 22 meters of the others goal ,\u003cbr /\>only to be turned back and find themselves defending inside their own 22.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>Midway through the second half the Bulldogs finally broke through when the\u003cbr /\>ball passed through he back line in text book form from Guse to Cunningham,\u003cbr /\>to Mat Pilarski to rookie Joe Lynch ( coaches son) who scored in the corner\u003cbr /\>of the try zone for a 15-12 Bulldog lead.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>As time was running out, St. Michael was working their way deep in Bulldog\u003cbr /\>territory only to be denied by Guse launching off yet another clearing\u003cbr /\>kick. After one kick East Metro was caught off-side by having a rugger\u003cbr /\>",1] ); //--></script><script><!-- D(["mb","make a play on a ball without being passed up by Spencer thus being in an\u003cbr /\>offside position. St. Michael was awarded a penalty kick 30-35 meters\u003cbr /\>from the posts but elected to run with the ball instead after exchanges of\u003cbr /\>penalties, the Bulldogs continued to stiffen on defense and held back the\u003cbr /\>charge of St. Michael. the game ended after a long penalty kick for\u003cbr /\>touch. Final Score East Metro 15 St. Michael-Albertville 12.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>The East Metro Bulldog Boys will continue their quest for first place in\u003cbr /\>the MN State Rugby Plate Championship on Saturday June 9th at eh National\u003cbr /\>Sports Center in Blaine.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\> rewritten by Terry Miller from notes of Coach Jeff Lynch\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>good thing - no sin-bins although came close, so quickly sub\'d in another\u003cbr /\>player\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>all and all good effort by all\u003cbr /\>still need to learn to play as a team\u003cbr /\>but hopefully, we can build on the momentiem and cover some things over the\u003cbr /\>next three practices\u003cbr /\>friday, monday, wednesday - - still have two new players to get in CIPP\u003cbr /\>info, said they would return friday - if you are around, maybe we could get\u003cbr /\>them registerred quickly - as they already played (illeagally) in two games\u003cbr /\>- as I was told they turned in the paperwork, but you were out of town -\u003cbr /\>only to find from them, that they had not turned in paperwork - - so gave\u003cbr /\>to them last night\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>do you have the brackets for the state tournament - can we get up on web\u003cbr /\>site\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>actually until the rain came down - a fair amount of parents showed up -\u003cbr /\>maybe because you call and talked to quite a few of them and told them - go\u003cbr /\>figure!\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>talk to you later\u003cbr /\>thanks\u003cbr /\>jeff\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>\u003c/div\>",0] ); //--></script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2495977515414487716-6721658644319719939?l=bulldogsrugby.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>East Metro Bulldos Rugbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00960653520216512500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495977515414487716.post-17261402623378020452007-06-02T15:33:00.001-07:002007-06-03T11:59:05.197-07:00<span style="font-size:85%;">The first round of the state play-offs took place this week with the East<br />Metro Bulldogs competing in both the Boys Tournament and the Girls<br />Tournament. It was especially tough with short week to prepare and rain<br />canceling practice on Tuesday. Both teams played on a rain drenched<br />Wednesday. The Girls are playing off for the state cup championship of the<br />top 8 teams and the boys playing in the plate division composed of the 2nd<br />8 teams, barely missing the cup division.<br /><br />The East Metro Girls Rugby Team (seeded 5th) traveled to Hopkins (seeded<br />4th) . The teams were evenly matched about 18 on both sides where 15 from<br />each team are on the pitch. Hopkins kicked off to eager Bulldogs who<br />usually take a few minutes to get their heads into the match. After a<br />knock-on and scrum to Hopkins their back line anchored by their coaches<br />daughter Katie Johnson who broke a tackle before being cornered by the<br />Bulldogs but she was able to dish off the ball and Hopkins scored 5 minutes<br />into the match. the kick was successful giving Hopkins a 7-0 lead.<br /><br />The Bulldogs fought back lead by captain Becca Golden who quick tapped on a<br />couple penalty plays to drive to within 5 meters of the Hopkins try line.<br />The East Metro team ended up playing the far majority of the first half in<br />the Hopkins end of the pitch, but their defense stiffened the closer the<br />Bulldogs came close to scoring. The half ended 7-0 and was about the time<br />when the sky opened up and the rain came down It made the ball handling<br />even tougher and caused many dropped kicks.<br /><br />Seniors become very busy this time of year and the Bulldogs were missing<br />the ruggers who play the #2 position but did the best they could. We<br />ended up loosing 9 of 12 scrums which was a real disadvantage for the East<br />Metro team not to be able to run the ball. However Nicole Peterson stepped<br />up to not only win the Bulldog lines outs but also to win many from<br />Hopkins. Best match of the year for Nicole who has been troubled with a<br />sore back all year but has played through it. It was also great for<br />Azimina Bachelani who returned after a knee injury which sidelined her for<br />most of the season, but came back to make some great tackles. Taking over<br />for Azmina was Emily Bandholz who has improved each match and plays a<br />strong flanker.<br /><br />Speaking of tackles Shannon Grimmer & Jenny Wirth and especially Alex Smith<br />had smothering defense. It started with Jamie Smith applying pressure to<br />the scrumhalf, not allowing her to make clean passes to the back line then<br />Grimmer, Wirth, Sara Lentsch, and Smith shut down Katie Johnson from<br />making any more gains the remainder of the match. Shannon Grimmer also<br />added some well-placed penalty kicks to gain back significant ground<br />gains. Alisa Splide played well at fullback despite the rough ball<br />handling from the kicks and Jasmin Breiden had her best match supporting<br />Alisa and making good runs of her own.<br /><br />The Bulldogs could not advance much beyond the gain line (like the line of<br />scrimmage in football) partially due to the slippery ball but also to the<br />credit of the Hopkins defense. The match ended 7 - 0 Hopkins. East<br />Metro Girls will now play-off for 5th place in state with matches held at<br />the National Sports center in Blaine on Saturday June 9th.</span><script><!-- D(["mb","up to not only win the Bulldog lines outs but also to win many from\u003cbr /\>Hopkins. Best match of the year for Nicole who has been troubled with a\u003cbr /\>sore back all year but has played through it. It was also great for\u003cbr /\>Azimina Bachelani who returned after a knee injury which sidelined her for\u003cbr /\>most of the season, but came back to make some great tackles. Taking over\u003cbr /\>for Azmina was Emily Bandholz who has improved each match and plays a\u003cbr /\>strong flanker.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>Speaking of tackles Shannon Grimmer & Jenny Wirth and especially Alex Smith\u003cbr /\>had smothering defense. It started with Jamie Smith applying pressure to\u003cbr /\>the scrumhalf, not allowing her to make clean passes to the back line then\u003cbr /\>Grimmer, Wirth, Sara Lentsch, and Smith shut down Katie Johnson from\u003cbr /\>making any more gains the remainder of the match. Shannon Grimmer also\u003cbr /\>added some well-placed penalty kicks to gain back significant ground\u003cbr /\>gains. Alisa Splide played well at fullback despite the rough ball\u003cbr /\>handling from the kicks and Jasmin Breiden had her best match supporting\u003cbr /\>Alisa and making good runs of her own.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>The Bulldogs could not advance much beyond the gain line (like the line of\u003cbr /\>scrimmage in football) partially due to the slippery ball but also to the\u003cbr /\>credit of the Hopkins defense. The match ended 7 - 0 Hopkins. East\u003cbr /\>Metro Girls will now play-off for 5th place in state with matches held at\u003cbr /\>the National Sports center in Blaine on Saturday June 9th.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>******************************\u003cwbr /\>******************************\u003cwbr /\>*************************\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>The East Metro Bulldogs Boys team hosted the St. Michael - Albertville team\u003cbr /\>also on Wednesday. Again two very even teams with the lead changing hands\u003cbr /\>5 times in the match. The Bulldogs were on the board first 3 - 0 with a\u003cbr /\>30 meter penalty kick by Spencer Guse who is probably the best kicker the\u003cbr /\>boys have had in the 15 years since the start of the program. Not only\u003cbr /\>",1] ); //--></script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2495977515414487716-1726140262337802045?l=bulldogsrugby.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>East Metro Bulldos Rugbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00960653520216512500noreply@blogger.com0