Fairfield Women went into Sunday for our second conference match-up, and our third overall game for the fall season. We faced a hungry and incredibly-fresh team from Columbia University, who were playing their first match this season. Injuries left us a bit hobbled going into this match, and we started out a bit slow, with a few too many dropped balls and knock-ons. Still, we were able to hold our own for a good 20 minutes, keeping Columbia to only 1 try. Unfortunately, Fairfield collected too many penalties which gave Columbia too many opportunities to drive up the field, giving Columbia another try at the 30-minute mark. Fairfield, despite continued penalties, were able to hold Columbia to a 10-0 lead.

The second-half brought in some relief, but losing a few key starters to injuries, a key knock-on gave Columbia a quick try at the very beginning going up 15-0. the defense continued to exhaust themselves, which resulted in side-entries and late entries into rucks, and the earlier penalties caused the team to hesitate more in open play, giving Columbia more room to move and burst through holes. Fairfield continued to battle back and push Columbia, with Nicole Hegarty '23 holding up the ball in-goal to stave off a wider scoring gap. This burst of energy helped the Lady Ruggers back a more consistent and calculated comeback to work their way up the field to score their first try from a blocked kick by Brigid Muller '25.

At the second half of the second half, Fairfield started to settle back into their game, running straighter up the field and setting up more conservative platform to maintain possession. Smart pressure and patience worked to our advantage, resulting in our second try by Julia Demetropoulos '25. but unfortunately, the penalties were too many to bear, and Columbia converted most of their kicks resulting in a final score of 10 - 43.

Once again, tremendous work-rate by Grace Harasimowicz '24, and defensive maneuvering by Captain Kieran McAllister '23. This game was a tremendous learning experience for our team and especially our finishers, who earned a lot of minutes on the field and will no doubt use it to contribute to our next game at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute up in Troy, NY on October 16.