Women's rugby avenges loss to Penn State, captures Mid-Atlantic title

The women's rugby team was certain that Penn State, the defending national champions, had not spent the morning practicing in a parking lot.

The morning before they took on the Nittany Lions, the Tigers found the practice field in terrible shape, so they ran their practice in the parking lot outside Pier 1 Imports in Roanoke, Va.

Apparently, asphalt was good to Princeton, as the Tigers took home the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union regional championship, defeating Penn State and Navy in two gritty, hard-fought games in the rain and mud.

Though all three teams had already qualified for the round of 16 in the national championship tournament, this was a battle for seeding, and the Tigers came out on top, earning the top seed in the East Region for the national championship tournament.

In the first game of the weekend, Princeton took on Penn State, the defending national champion, in a grudge match. It was the Tigers who had lost in the championship game to the Nittany Lions last May. This time, Princeton was victorious, coming away with a 23-12 victory.

"Though we always try to focus on one game at a time, there was no way that we didn't remember and didn't have that loss in our minds as motivation," junior captain and fullback Sarah Apgar said.

The game was dominated by the forwards, meaning that the ball was not run as much. It was a physical game, with two of Princeton's scores coming from rucks — when the forwards pile on the ball and drive it into the endzone, rather than running it in.

The Tigers scored early, but then the pace of the game slowed down. Though the Nittany Lions came back with two tries after their usual slow start, Princeton's forwards were too strong, and the Tigers advanced to meet Navy in the regional championship game.

It was pouring rain Sunday, which led to a very scrappy game. Both the ball and the field were slippery, so the players were unable to make passing plays, and had to rely on their tackling.

In what was mainly a game of possession, the Tigers had the edge, winning 13-3.

In one of the only fast-moving plays of the game, senior wing Audrey Ellerbee scored a try by sprinting down the weak side of the field, and none of the Navy players were able to catch her.

"We had a lot of fun in the mud — it was the epitome of what rugby is supposed to be," junior forward Carrie Staub said.

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Both Navy and Penn State are national powerhouses, so this tournament gave the Tigers a chance to match themselves up against the best — a chance to see how they measured up.

They came away with renewed confidence for their chances at recapturing the championship which has eluded them the past two years.

"There were no weak links, on the field or on the sidelines," Staub said. "We really pulled together as a team in a way we hadn't before. We have such a history with both these teams and that's why these victories were so incredible."