Caroline Rhodes
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Rhodes ties record; Nor'easters roll on Homecoming

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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Senior Caroline Rhodes matched a program-record with 29 points, as the University of New England ran away from Keene State for a 69-17 victory to wrap up Homecoming on Saturday (Oct. 17) at Blue Storm Stadium.

In addition to celebrating Homecoming, the Nor'easters were also honoring the 10th anniversary of varsity rugby at UNE, and it was fitting that Rhodes' effort tied the previous mark that was set by Zoe Adams 10 years ago (Sept. 30, 2016 vs. Castleton).

Mckenna LaBarge helped the home team race out to a commanding 31-5 cushion at halftime, registering three consecutive tries after Sally Baptista got UNE on the scoreboard first.

Rhodes was the story of the second half, finding the try zone a trio of times and knocking through four conversions. For the fixture, Rhodes was successful on 7 of 10 conversion attempts, with those seven conversions equaling the second-highest single-game total in UNE history.

Reese Meehan had a pair of second-half tries, while Annabella Lafond and Joslyn Griffeth accounted for the other Nor'easter scores.

"What an exciting win to celebrate 10 years of varsity rugby," commented head coach Ashley Potvin. "The team showed great resilience throughout the match, adjusting constantly to the various substitutions that were made. It was great to see some of our younger players play a full 80 minutes of rugby and some of our veteran players really step up by playing various positions throughout the match."

Keene State received tries from Emily Huckins, Makenna Huot and Neila Jerome.

UNE is idle next weekend before taking on rival Bowdoin College on Oct. 31. Start time for that contest in Brunswick is slated for 11 a.m. Â