Penn Women's First Year in Ivy Rugby Conference

Penn Women took the plunge this year and joined the Ivy League. Unsure of what to expect, the vets worked hard on recruting during the off season, bringing a wealth of rookies to the team.

With only four practices and a scrimmage, Penn started the season off against Princeton with five rookies taking the field for the first time. The rookies proved to be quick learners, and everyone stepped their game up. While Princeton came out on top, the second half was much closer. Penn went back to work on Monday with a new focus. Everyone had seen a game and knew what to expect, so the women began working hard on their fitness and contact skills. Their next opponent was Brown; Penn made the seven hour trip up with 15 players. Loosing one to a head injury in warmup, Penn took the field with 14 Quakers and a borrowed Brown player. Brown proved to be powerful and quick on the edges, but Penn never gave up, always fighting for the last try saving tackle. Despite Penn's continued work on defensive skills and their new found confidence ball-in-hand, they lost to Columbia in the 88th minute of the game. With renewed confidence they came out hard against Yale, even scoring first, but were unable to maintain their momentum and fell to Yale in their last 15's game of the season.

Captains Marissa DeCesaris and Kali Hamilton led the entire season from the front. Whether it was scoring tries, making tackles, or picking up rookies who were feeling down, they always kept the team on a positive note working towards new goals. Anika Stark was asked once again to step into the Scrum Half position and never once complained about not playing her favorite position. She always worked hard at practice on her pass from the floor, as well as studying rules around set pieces.

The Penn women finished out their season without a win but with high hopes for next year.