Club Corner:
Women's Rugby

On Saturday, the team faced off against UConn, who had delivered the Bulldogs their lone loss earlier in the season. This time, the Eli attack was too much to handle as Yale overwhelmed the Huskies, 32-12.

The finals were played on Sunday, and Yale met with fierce rival Radcliffe. Last year, Radcliffe was fourth in the nation and the only NERFU team that was consistently able to defeat Yale. But the players gave it their all, and in what was arguably thier best game of the season, beat the Cantabs 5-0 on a try scored by Sandy Enuha, DC '99. With the win, the team claimed the number one rank in New England as well as the top seed for thweekend's Northeastern (NRU) playoffs.

The ruggers have their work cut out for them at NRUs. They play Cornell on Sat., Nov. 9, and will hopefully proceed to the finals on Sun., Nov. 10, where a rematch with Radcliffe is predicted. The winner on Sunday moves on to Nationals.

The team is excited about what it has accomplished thus far. "It is extremely rare that the season one envisions becomes a reality," Teresa Sakash, MC '99, said. With a strong core of returning players, a large rookie class, and new coaches, the season looked promising from the beginning. Even so, with hard training and remarkable team chemistry, the squad has come together as a unit and raised their game to a higher level than anyone expected.

"We had a lot of skill at the beginning of the season, but there were holes at key positions," Sakash said. "Rookie players stepped in to fill those voids with astonishing quickness. Most amazing, however, was the continuous improvement of individaul and team play. The skill and commitment levels of all players improved with each practice, culminating in the hard-fought victory over Radcliffe."

A large part of the Bulldogs' improvement this year comes from the depth they have developed. With injuries to several starting players threatening to hamper the team, rookies and players from the more inexperienced B side compensated for the losses with their tremendous effort and strong play.

This weekend the rugby team is hoping to make their run for a bid at Nationals complete. Co-captain Hedwig Aerts, CC '97, recognized the challenge that still lies ahead: "It's going to be an insanely hard-fought battle this weekend against Cornell and especially Radcliffe, but I'm confident that this team can do it."

--Sarah Holley