Boxscore (PDF)
Post-Game Notes from Coach Graziano
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Junior wing
Kayla Heal scored three trys to lead Eastern Illinois women's rugby over Grand Valley State, 46-7, on Saturday afternoon to open the 2011 campaign at Lakeside Field.
The Panthers (1-0) improve to 12-1 in home openers under skipper
Frank Graziano, as he enters his 13th season as head coach of the premiere NCAA Division I women's rugby program.
Plus the loss helped avenge last season's lone defeat as EIU dropped a tough 17-5 contest at GVSU which ended an Eastern program-best 29-game winning streak enroute to a 10-1 2010 season.
EIU needed just six minutes to earn the first points in the game as Heal scampered in for her first try of the season with
Lauren Doyle scoring on the ensuing two-point conversion, giving EIU the early 7-0 lead.
Grand Valley State's Sheana Sparrow then countered with her own try and a conversion in the 23rd minute to tie the game, but the Panthers would rattle off 12 consecutive points to take a 19-7 lead into the half.
The Panther offense continued to pour on the offense as they tallied 27 more points in the second half en route to a convincing 46-7 season-opening victory.
Doyle paced the attack with 16 points while Heal finished with 15 total. Also earning a try in the rout were senior
Sarah Sremaniak, junior
Alissa Patient and sophomore
Cara Hahne.
Both Heal and Doyle ran off three runs over twenty-yards in the contest.
Senior captain
Narissa Ramirez dished out three assists, which sets a new EIU mark as she now owns 57 career assists.
Defensively, Doyle finished with eight solo stops, while newcomer
Madison Kissner chiopped in seven solo tackles. Senior
Tina Crema led with seven assisted tackles.
Doyle again led all Panthers with four steals-at-tackle, and finished the day at 3-for-8 in two-point conversions.
Panthers will return to action on Sat., Sept. 10 when EIU will host Big Ten foe Minnesota. Kick off is set for noon at EIU's Lakeside Field.
POST-GAME NOTES FROM COACH GRAZIANO:
"Despite the very warm weather conditions…temp at game time near 100 degrees…the team was able to apply enough defensive pressure to force GVS into several turnovers and tactical errors leading to several scoring opportunities.
We felt good about what we had accomplished at half time with a 19 – 7 lead. We were able to make several adjustments during the break.
Sarah Sremaniak was given the responsibility to defend 3 – 4 GVS players in their line out attack and she did an excellent job the entire second half. Sarah also moved back to hooker for the second half to stabilize the scrum and performed well. These few adjustments made a difference in us holding GVS to zero points in the second half.
We started 6 newcomers playing in their first rugby game…5 are true freshmen.
All performed well with freshmen
Madison Kissner making an excellent impact in her first game. She was the second leading tackler on the day and looked good running the ball.
Narissa Ramirez was once again our team leader and inspiration. Her quick decision making is an asset to our style of play and she is able to hold the game together when we lose focus. Since this was our first game of the season this occurs more often then we would like. She constantly puts the opposition under pressure and has already set a new career mark for assists only one game into her senior year.
Kayla Heal had a big day for us on the wing and presented a match up problem for GVS since there was not a GVS player who could match her speed. We moved her around the field to several attacking positions creating confusion and she was able to run past the defense before GVS was able to realize the attacking pattern. We have very high expectations for Kayla this season. Her first two seasons were good but now we believe its time for Kayla to become a great player. Her defense has improved and her understanding of her responsibilities will be important to our success and her development.
Our plan will be to do extra film work this week as we now have a reference point for the start of the season. We hope to improve a good bit this week to get ready for Minnesota."
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
