The football team shone in another action-packed weekend for Brown Athletics, with the Bears winning their opener on Saturday after going into overtime twice. Men’s water polo and women’s rugby also picked up key victories, while field hockey shared their two games over the weekend.
On Saturday, the football team (1-0) opened the season with a 44-38 double overtime win over Bryant University (0-3) in an exciting start to the 2022 season. Brown pulled himself together from 24-10 deficit early in the fourth quarter, scoring five touchdowns in the fourth quarter and a subsequent double overtime. New starting quarterback Jake Willcox ’24 went 26 for 39 through the air, throwing for 356 yards and scoring three touchdowns and three interceptions, adding 56 more rushing yards on 12 attempts. Wide receiver Graham Walker ’24 led the Bears with eight catches for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The women’s rugby team (1-1-1) cruised to a dominating 83-0 victory over Princeton (0-3) on Saturday, giving Bruno his first victory of the season. Eight different Brown players have registered tries, with Noelle Lewis ’24 scoring four tries and Akilah Cathey ’25 and Mahdia Parker ’23 each scoring two.
The men’s water polo team (7-4) won two of three games on its California road trip, losing to Pepperdine 20-5 before beating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 14- 8 and Whittier College 20-10.
The volleyball team (4-5) split a pair of games on Saturday, losing to the University of Connecticut (5-5) in four sets before defeating Lindenwood University (3-6) , also in four sets. Sophia Miller ’23 and Kate Sheire ’24 each recorded double-digit wins against Connecticut, while Elise Curtin ’23 recorded 12 against Lindenwood.
The field hockey team (5-1) also split a pair of games over the weekend, beating Towson University (2-5) 2-1 on Friday before losing to Virginia Commonwealth University (4-3) 3-2. Lexi Pellegrino ’26 scored in each of the Bears’ two games, accounting for half of the team’s total goals for the weekend.
The women’s soccer team (5-2-1) lost to Oklahoma State University (7-1-1) 2-0 on Sunday. A pair of late Cowgirls goals proved too much for Bruno to overcome, handing the defending Ivy League champions their second loss of the season. The Bears battled extreme heat and a flight cancellation and ended up being ruled out for the first time this season despite promising opportunities early in the game.
The men’s soccer team (2-2-0) also lost this weekend, losing 3-0 to Saint Francis College (3-3-1) in Brooklyn on Sunday. The Bears were unable to do anything on offense, with the Terriers holding the advantage in shots, shots on goal and corner kicks.
Several of Brown’s sailors had strong showings at the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association Singlehanded Championships, led by Leyton Borcherding ’25, who won the NEISA Singlehanded Championship.
