The Quad

Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Sports

Although the season ended on a somewhat somber note, as West Chester fell to Army in front of their senior day crowd, no one should go away from this season with their head down, fan or player. The girls have gone through an amazing journey, starting way back in the fall.

The first game of the season took place against Eastern Illinois. At the start of the season, there were only four official NCAA women's rugby teams, and West Chester was one of them, as was Eastern Illinois. Never before in history had an official NCAA sanctioned game taken place in women's rugby between two official NCAA teams. This was the first, and West Chester came out on top in a heart stopping one point victory, ensuring themselves a spot in the record books forever.

From here, they won two more games in a row, making it three straight to start off the season, before falling to number one ranked Penn State. In the second game of the season, they shut out division rival Princeton, who won every EPRU championship since 1983 until West Chester joined the league. A month and a week later, the Lady Rams once again rolled over the Princeton Tigers 19-5 in the championship game, their third in a row. This gave West Chester a shot at the National tournament in Albuquerque, pending the outcome of their game versus James Madison in the spring season.

The girls came out after the break determined for victory, taking their first game back easily against the Tar Heels. This set the tone for the MARFU quarterfinals against JMU, the determining factor in whether or not they would make the Sweet Sixteen tournament for the third year in a row. The girls were obviously worthy of the title, as they held JMU scoreless.

While they fell in both semi final matches in the MARFU tourney, the girls still had solidified a spot in the National Tournament in April.

Five days after the MARFU tournament, the girls took on the Norwich Cadets. Norwich had recently become the fifth team to earn the NCAA title, making this the second NCAA sanctioned game ever. Norwich came into the match unbeaten at 16-0. They came away from West Chester with a 16-1 record, as West Chester laid it on them, running all around, through, and over the Cadets to gain victory in the second ever NCAA match, giving them a 2-0 NCAA record.

The final step in the season for West Chester was the Sweet Sixteen tournament, where they had the privilege of traveling to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Unfortunately, the girls fell in the first round to a talented Brown University team, but the real story came in the consolation game the next day, where they took on UCLA.

Continued...

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