Day 1 of the CRC was one of mixed results for the Dartmouth Rugby Football Club. The squad won their first two games of the day, before losing their final match to finish second in Group E. They will meet Air Force tomorrow at 2:10pm in the Plate Semifinal.
The day began with a game against hometown favorite St. Joseph's, played on a secondary field outside of PPL Park. Despite the limitations of the field, the DRFC fan base still came out in strong numbers and made their presence felt throughout the game. Dartmouth came out firing on all cylinders, moving St. Joe's all around the field and dominating possession in the first half. Football crossover Cody Patch had a breakout game, scoring the game's first two tries early in the first half. A strong 14-minute performance resulted in a 31-7 win for the Big Green, with all 12 of Dartmouth's players seeing the field.
Dartmouth moved inside the stadium to take on Penn State in their second game of the day. Dartmouth put forward a large starting lineup to match up with Penn State's size, which made the game quite physical from the opening whistle. Once again, Dartmouth played strong rugby, and took a 10-0 lead into the half. Speedster John Abraham scored a second-half try, and the Big Green took a 15-10 victory after a late push from Penn State.
Dartmouth's third and final game of the day came against Arizona, once again inside PPL Park, and featured on NBC Sports. The game opened up unfavorably for the Big Green, with a few dropped balls and penalties called against the squad. Arizona took a 19-0 lead into the half, and were slowed down in the second half, but walked away with a 24-0 win. It was a disappointing way to end the day, after Dartmouth had won two games of well-played rugby.
The Big Green finished 9th place overall after the first day, barely missing the Cup quarterfinals, but taking the #1 seed in the Plate tournament. The boys are ready to put Day 1 behind them and have made it their mission to take home hardware from the tournament.
The schedule for Sunday is:
2:10pm vs. Air Force (Plate Semifinal)
4:59pm vs. UCLA/Virginia Tech (Plate Final, with a win)
Both of these games will be televised, with NBC Sports Network broadcasting from 2pm to 4pm, and NBC taking over from 4pm to 6pm.
As always, the DRFC is so grateful to all of our faithful alums, parents, family members, and friends who support us day in and day out. It was amazing to see so many Dartmouth fans with us in Philadelphia today, and we are equally thankful to all of you who are following along from home.