Boston Banshees Have the Final Word in Tidewater Landing Opener

Onyx winger KB Slaughter accepts a pass while Banshees center Amanda Schweitzer makes a tackle. Photo by Ali Tousignant via alitousiphotos.com.

Pawtucket, RI – The league-leading Denver Onyx spoiled the Boston Banshees’ second home opener at Centreville Bank Stadium on Sunday, but the home side earned the final try of the match to finish the loss on a high note.

Prior to Sunday’s game, the Onyx had never scored less than 41 points in a match. The Banshees held them to 25 points thanks to strong defense. The home side also exhibited solid kicking and their scrums were particularly notable against the visitors.

The Onyx scored five tries in the game, including first WER tries for Kiana Lally and Tahna Wilfley. Denver intercepted several of the Banshees’ line-outs, and their strong off-loading play enabled them to push relentlessly forward.

Boston managed to prevent further tries, including twice on the goal line. They were hampered during the match by yellow cards to Catie Benson and Yeja Dunn, but it was during the latter disadvantage that they scored the home side’s only try. In the 76th minute, substitute players Nickky Nguyen, Q Okine, Salma Bezzat, and Nikki Lynch all contributed during the push to the try scored by Jenni Laferriere.

The home crowd erupted into chants after the try despite the scoreline.

Banshees head coach Kitt Ruiz had stern words for her side after the match on not playing to the team’s systems:

“We’re a place where we’re exactly halfway through the season right now and we get to make a decision about how we come back from the last two games in a row that were both losses and figure out how we want to raise our hand and how we want to dictate the rest of the season.”

Coach Ruiz did not feel that being without the Banshees’ three players who were away with USA Rugby was any excuse: “I think that we have worked to have the depth… Do we miss them? Absolutely… we miss them, we miss the leadership, the strength of play with them as well. But we know how to play, we know our systems, we know our structures. It’s just about deciding if we want to put our hand up on that day and do those things. “

Banshees scrum-half Natalie Armatage, who herself had a great game, saw some positives in the team’s play despite the loss.

“I think our team really turned it on in the second half,” she said post-game. “I think once we got settled and figured out where the game needed to go, we made the adjustments we needed to make. Overall, we’re obviously not happy with the outcome and wish it kind of ended better, but seeing that we ended the game on a high note with a try and then momentum is always great to see.”

Denver’s interim head coach Karameli Fa’ae’e knew her team was coming to face a strong side on their home turf. She discussed how the Onyx planned to tackle their closest competitors in the league:

“Preparing for the Banshees we knew it was going to be physical and we knew that they had a good kicking game, so this week we focused a lot on our rotation at the back, which I thought did a really good job. Any time there’s a kick, there was someone under it and we were able to move it. The forwards we worked on just making sure there’s no line breaks through the middle. So, we just stuck to our details.”

For the home side, Armatage reflected on what the Banshees would learn from the match. “I think we talked about in the change room many times about coming out with fire and we didn’t… Every time we did come out with fire, good things happened to our team, and when we were kind of getting low, that’s when the ball kind of swung the other way.”

The Banshees will play two more games before they have the chance to avenge this loss to the Onyx. On Saturday, May 10, they will travel to California for their first ever match against the Bay Breakers. One week later, they will host the Chicago Tempest at Tidewater Landing.

Final score: Boston Banshees 7 – Denver Onyx 25

Boston Banshees
Tries: Laferriere 77’
Conversions: Schweitzer 78’

Denver Onyx
Tries: Slaughter 13’, Coffey 19’, Solomon 41’, Lally 46’, Wilfley 71’