Women's rugby has successful season

Despite facing numerous obstacles during the season, the women's rugby team won its league title and made an impressive showing at the National Tournament.

At first, many thought it would be a rebuilding year. A large part of the talent that had led the team to the Final Four in the past three years graduated.

To make matters worse, the coach for the past nine years received a promotion at work and had to leave the team before the season even started. This setback placed extra burden on the shoulders of senior captains Sarah Apgar and Laura Miller, requiring them to make all of the coaching decisions and run practices.

Things started off well for the Tigers in the fall season as they won the Eastern Penn Rugby Union championship, earning them a spot in the regional Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union quarterfinal game, which was played at the end of March in Princeton.

To kick off the spring and prepare for upcoming tournaments, the Tigers traveled to Virginia for a couple of matches Mar. 1-2. Princeton experienced mixed results as it handily beat George Washington, but suffered a 5-0 loss to North Carolina.

"We had some kinks to work out early on and we were not worried," Apgar said.

On Mar. 23, Princeton faced American to kick off the MARFU Tournament. The Tigers dominated the Eagles, scoring a tournament-high 92 points before the match ended, while holding American to zero.

"The dramatic improvement in the three weeks between that tournament and this game was obvious," Apgar said.

The win against American qualified the Tigers for the Sweet 16 tournament and brought them closer to their goal of making the Final Four.

In the next round of the MARFU Tournament, Princeton played an intense double-overtime match against Navy.

The Tigers were unable to come up with the game-tying try (like a touchdown in football, worth five points), and fell to Navy, 26-21. Another loss to UVA in the third-place match left Princeton with a fourth place finish in the tournament.

Heading into the Sweet 16, the Tigers found themselves seeded seventh. Their first match was against 10th-seeded Massachusetts. After a very physical game, the Tigers came out on top, 24-14, and moved on to the next round to face the second seed, Penn State.

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The Tigers held off Penn State in the first part of the game, but the Nittany Lions' greater experience eventually pulled through, as they went on to a 50-10 victory.

"They have a really amazing team this year with a lot of experience," senior Ginny Pitzer said. "I'm pretty sure they have multiple fifth-year seniors on their team."

After facing numerous setbacks, the Tigers managed to fight their way to the Elite Eight.

They now look towards developing their young talent for the next season and finding a permanent head coach. A sizeable freshman class, with standouts Donna Garnier, Ruth Bryson and Natalie Johnson, suggests strong seasons in the years to come.