Pregame Release (PDF) | Game Program (PDF)
CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The undefeated Eastern Illinois women's rugby squad returns home for a noon battle against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Saturday (Sep. 26). It will mark the first time both Panther squads have faced each other on the rugby field.
PANTHERS BACK AT HOME ...
... Eastern continues to take it's program-high and current 19-game winning streak into Saturday's home contest versus Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
... Last week, the Panthers picked up a nice 61-5 victory at Iowa State.
... The Panthers have recorded 45 shutouts since moving to NCAA Division Status back in 2002. The five points scored by Iowa State last weekend snapped a seven-game streak of not allowing the opposition to score. Back in 2002, the 11-0 squad actually blanked their last nine opponents.
... Since going DI in 2002, EIU has outscored the opposition an astounding 4,253 to 364, for an average final score of 58-5 over the past eight years.
FIRST-EVER MEETING ...
Saturday's game with Wisconsin-Milwaukee will mark the first time the two Panther squads have met on the rugby field. However, many members of the team played played for the Wisconsin All-Star squad that EIU defeated, 12-10, last season in the Panthers' season opener.
GRAZIANO ON ISU SCORING ON EIU ...
“I'm glad that the opponent scoreless streak is over, quite honestly... as we tended to focus on that instead of playing good defense, offense and to just play the game… sure, shutouts are great, but if they become your focus you have issues... the squad reacted well after they scored and did just fine… now we don't have to worry about that anymore... we have been mostly working on details in practice… as a group we are doing well, but after looking at the film we noticed a few flaws being made positionally or technically… so we have been working on slight adjustments, the things that only really show up on tape.”
GRAZIANO ON WI-MILWAUKEE ...
“75-80% of the Wisconsin All-Star squad last year had members of this WI-Milwaukee team… so we need to be cautious about this game… we don't want to lose our momentum… I talked to the captains about it… this team will be coming town town ready to play… I feel that this will be the hardest game of the season thus far… our kids have been handling their focus really well… our senior leadership is good … we've had a good start for the season… we are a little bit ahead of what I would have predicted in pre-season camp... we're still not at our peak yet, but we are starting to feel comfortable with our offensive and defensive game plan… every weekend will be a test... and this weekend is definitely going to test us.”
UP NEXT FOR EIU ...
Next week the Panthers head north to the twin cities, facing Minnesota at 11 am on Sat., Oct. 3 in Minneapolis. EIU owns a 1-0 series lead over the Golden Gophers, after downing the Big Ten power 77-0 back in 2006.
GRAZIANO APPROACHING '100' ...
When the EIU Panthers tackle the Purple Panthers of Northern Iowa at home on Saturday, October 10, it will mark head coach Frank Graziano's 100th game as skipper of the Eastern rugby squad. Now in his 11th season, he is currently 80-17 (82.5%) all-time.
A BALANCED ATTACK ...
Nine of the 19 Panthers have scored at least one try this season, giving the Panthers many scoring options. Out of the 29 total trys scored, 23 of them came off key assists, with sophomore Narissa Ramirez leading the squad with seven assists on the year.
.... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
