Phoenixville, NE Philly Revive Rivalry

Of all the Mid-Atlantic Conference (MAC) games last weekend, DII’s Phoenixville White Horse and Northeast Philadelphia Irish played the most competitive match. The fact that two points separated the teams was not a surprise, however, as these squads have a history of single-digit decisions.

Both Phoenixville and Northeast Philly started their lives as DIII teams, and were promoted into DII after winning MAC’s DIII titles (White Horse actually won back-to-back DIII titles before moving up). The last time these teams faced each other in regular-season play was fall 2018 (their 2019-20 match was scheduled for March 28, 2020 – two weeks after the Covid-19 shutdown began), and the Irish won 17-15.

“We have a friendly relationship with the Irish,” said John Hamer, White Horse’s head coach since 2015. “It’s almost like a playoff match every time we play them. We both want to beat each other. Every time we play it’s a very close game and it always seems to come down to the last couple of minutes.”

That back-and-forth took a timeout during the Covid-19 shutdown, and outside of some light training and fitness, White Horse didn’t reassemble in earnest until spring 2021. There was good interest, although the player pool had shrunk by half, and new avenues for recruitment opened up.

“We pulled college kids mostly from West Chester University and Temple University,” Hamer said of new relationships. “Both of them had a limited spring [season] and Temple didn’t really have anything at all. We pulled from some other schools, too, that were remote learning and had kids at home.”

White Horse built momentum through the MAC summer 7s series and is now near 40 players registered, including five recent West Chester graduates. Those are solid numbers, but Hamer explained that a traditional year brings closer to 70 players who fill two full 15s sides.

On Sept. 11, the team prefaced the league season with a friendly against Philadelphia’s DIII team. The outing allowed new players to orient themselves on the pitch, and returners to remember what 15s feels like, especially in the forwards.

“That was the big thing,” Hamer said of muscle memory in the set piece. “You don’t have it as much in 7s because it’s a three-person scrum, so I think being able to scrum down and actually compete in a 15s situation against a team like Philly was very helpful for setting up the team in the right direction.

“They also realized pretty quickly that their fitness levels were not where they thought they were,” the coach added. “They were reminded of what 80 minutes of rugby does to the body.”

Phoenixville won that game 53-5 and then turned around for a guaranteed battle against the Irish.

“Let’s go out there and take what we’ve done at practice and really focus on the set piece and managing the pressures of the game,” Hamer recited the points of focus. “Doing that should lead you to victory, or at least a good game.”

The first half was spent in Northeast Philly’s end for the most part, but Phoenixville struggled to put points on the board.

“We just couldn’t push it in,” Hamer said. “We did score two tries but for the number of opportunities we had within their 22, we really didn’t perform as well as you’d like to in that area.”

White Horse knocked the ball on 19 times during the game, and the majority of the mishandlings occurred in the first half.

“The set pieces were really, really strong and what set the tone of the game early on,” Hamer said. “It was a hot, sunny day and in the first 15 minutes, there were seven scrums. So every single forward knew what kind of game was coming [if something didn’t change]. ‘We’ve got to make our opportunities matter and we really want to get out ahead so this isn’t going to be a slugfest.’”

There were 14 scrums in the first half. White Horse won its three put-ins and stole four of the Irish’s 11 put-ins. In the second half, White Horse kept its five put-ins and stole one of the Irish’s eight scrums as well as one lineout.

Karen Hall and Rachel Allison scored in the middle of the first half. Fullback Corinne Gallagher, an important leader in the backs who also aids a good kicking game, added the important conversion for the team’s 12 first-half points. The Irish got on the board as well for a 12-5 halftime scoreline.

“At the start of the second half, the Irish came our strong and really tried pushing the tempo on us,” Hamer said. “They scored off a stolen ruck on the far side of field on their own goal line and took it to the house. Then they took the lead at the 73-minute mark.”

The Irish held a 15-12 lead in the final stretch, but Phoenixville kept its collective head down and continued to work. The squad got important leadership from field captain Jessica Rodearmel, who started the game at scrumhalf and ended it at flanker. Normally Rodearmel has co-captain Zoe Rex on the pitch leading the pack, but Rex was resting an injury this match. Hooker Angela Johnson stepped up and was a big presence in the forwards.

The reserves also played an important role late in the game, and Hamer was impressed with the newcomers’ contributions.

“We had three brand-new ladies playing this game,” Hamer said. “One got 25 minutes, another got 12, and a third came on with two minutes to go. They all played key roles right down to the end. Brandy Peterson stole a lineout at the end. Juliet Scott broke some tackles on a nice run. Sarah Eidle came in at the end and basically rucked so we could keep that possession and run out the clock.

“The big thing with new players, it’s always hard when they don’t come from a contact sport and you need to explain things like ball placement when you’re tackled, and all that,” the coach added. “They had never played before except for five weeks of practice, and they came into a league match that was this tight and were able to perform and make a difference. I couldn’t be happier about that.”

In the waning minutes, White Horse put together some solid phase play, and unintimidated by the trend of knock-ons, held onto possession long enough to put Johnson over the line. White Horse regained the lead with two minutes on the clock and held on for the 17-15 win. Another barn-burner for the books. Northeast Philly called out Ronni Washington as Forward of the Match and Jackie Liss as Back of the Match.

“It has a huge impact,” Hamer said of the win. “We knew it was going to be tough going in. The game against Philly was a blowout and we were scoring from a distance. This match had to be won via a slugfest and the forwards and the set pieces, which sets us up for success when we have face teams like Harrisburg and Doylestown, who won’t give you breakaways, and you have to fight for every inch. Now the ladies know they can win both ways.”

The following senior clubs also contested league games in the MAC last weekend:

MAC DII

Harrisburg 57-5 Doylestown

James River 36-17 Norfolk

Severn River 95-0 Chesapeake

MAC DIII

DC Revolution 28-0 MD Exiles

Frederick 34-12 Rappahannock