After four Eastern injuries, with 11 minutes left and Indiana leading 44-14 the referee came over and asked if Women’s Rugby Head Coach Frank Graziano wanted to call the game.

Graziano said it was up to the referee, who quickly called for the game to end.

By the end of the game the Panthers were playing three to four players short, with injuries to freshman prop Anne Schnura, sophomore flanker Stephanie Militello and junior lock Victoria Rosales.

Senior scrum-half Marlise Davidson also came out for some of the game when a player from the other team fell on top of her already bruised ribs.

With no subs and nothing else to do, Eastern was forced to play short and have people trying to adjust to different positions mid game.

“When you are standing next to someone and they go down in a tackle and you are used to them popping right back up and they don’t,” sophomore fullback Ashley Jenkins said. “They just lay there on the ground, it is pretty scary.”

Although Graziano doesn’t think the injuries are serious, he did say playing this weekend and “adding bruises on top of some already banged up bodies” is going to be something the Panthers are going to have to overcome.

Two weeks before next game

Eastern does not have a game this weekend, and will not play again until Oct. 6 against Ohio State.

Coming off two physical games with many nagging injuries the Panthers are looking forward to the break in their schedule, Graziano said.

Graziano said he will be speaking to the trainers, but the Panthers will do very little, if anything this week to give people the opportunity to heal.

“I can’t see any of the injuries being serious enough to keep them out for longer than a week or two, but you never know,” Graziano said.

Graziano said he expects he will have all 15 players on the field against Ohio State but that they will need to figure out closer to that time who is ready to come back and who isn’t.

“But they need to rest, they have little bruise here and a little bruise there,” Graziano said. “I don’t know which is worse – their bodies or their egos and emotions right now.”

Regaining lost confidence

After the mental strain of these last two games the Panthers are trying to take a physical rest but also be able to rebuild emotionally.

This Sunday after Friday’s loss to Indiana the Panthers had a team meeting and decided they had to work on their confidence in each other and themselves.

The women decided they would have a sleepover this weekend in order to get to know each other better and might take a canoeing trip as well.

Each player also has to write something positive about everyone else on the team this week, as a way to help build back some confidence.

“We all still have some feelings and emotions left over from the West Chester game, and we need to address those as a team and get over those things in order to move on,” said junior center Molly Clutter.

Jenkins learning to see the bigger picture

Graziano has been very impressed with Jenkins in the last few games and how she has developed since last year.

“She is analyzing the entire field and seeing when she needs to kick it and where and when she needs to run before she kicks it,” Graziano said. “She is just getting a better grasp on the game as a whole and you can really see that change in her.”

Jenkins said a big problem she had last year was being able to see the layers of defense and being able to adjust to them.

“It is not just one row of defenders,” Jenkins said. “They are all spread out and some are quicker than the others and they are moving all over the place and I have to account for where they are and where they are going.”

Jenkins said this year she is doing several things to learn how to be better at her position, such as practicing with tackle bags and with other teammates running at her, as well as watching a lot of film.

“Ashley was a little scared last year as a freshman, and she would panic and kick it right away or in the wrong direction but she has gained a lot of confidence and has not been folding under pressure,” Clutter said.