RELEASE (PDF)

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- A late season change to the Eastern Illinois women's rugby schedule has allowed the Panthers to travel to Southern Illinois for a 1 pm matchup this coming Saturday afternoon.  Eastern added the Salukis to the schedule at the last minute following the cancellation by Appalachian State, which was originally on the Panthers' fall slate this weekend.

FOURTH MEETING BETWEEN EIU/SIU
The Salukis and Panthers have met three times previously, with EIU having won all three meetings. However, it's been awhile since the two instate rivals have faced one another on the rugby field, with the last meeting coming back in 2002, when EIU won a close contest on the road, 19-12.

HOME & SEASON FINALE CHANGED
Meanwhile, the new home and season finale against either Purdue or Michigan State will feature a pregame ceremony to honor five departing players from the 2009 squad. Those players include seniors Chase Cain, Ashley Jenkins, Crystal Jones, and Stephanie Militello. Junior Tiffany Kennedy, meanwhile, will also be honored alongside the seniors prior to kickoff as she is set to graduate early from EIU and plans on student teaching next fall.

PRE-SIU GAME WITH GRAZIANO
“I'm glad we got a chance to play and to continue our momentum… we've had a good season... I always worry about getting a weekend off… I think that creates a great opportunity to go flat… plus playing another Illinois school is great... we hope to continue to add more Illinois schools to our schedules down the line… makes sense, as it facilities easy travel and you can't beat the built-in rivalries… if we can get WIU and ISU and some of the Chicago schools on the slate, that would be great, as we are trying to create a more regional rivalry... I don't really know much about Southern... all week in practice we have continued to focus on improving as a team and individually… we still have a lot of young players still learning the game… most of our practices right now have been going over playing drills, instead of technical drills… it is now time for the freshman to learn more about playing the game… and the only way to do that in practice is to do playing-type drills… very controlled scrimmages… 10-on-6 type scenarios… which has been helping a lot, especially good to improving the players' decision making.”

.... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID