Head coach Frank Graziano said the rugby team did not play very well against Oregon this weekend but they still managed to win 24-15.

“I don’t know if it was the jet lag and being tired or what, but it wasn’t pretty,” Graziano said.

The Panthers scored first with a try from junior Molly Clutter making it 5-0, but Oregon scored a three-point conversion and made it 5-3.

Eastern scored two more times in the first half, with trys from junior Samantha Manto and sophomore Crystal Jones.

Victoria Rosales also completed a two point conversion point, and they allowed Oregon to score a try before the half making it 17-8.

Graziano said he made some adjustments at half and told the team they had to keep Oregon from coming back, and the Panthers held them from scoring for the first 18 minutes of the second half.

Oregon scored in the second half and made the conversion kick to make it 17-15.

Manto scored again and Rosales got the conversion kick to finish the game at 24-15.

Manto said she wasn’t sure if they were trying too much or not enough, but they didn’t play as well as they wanted to, especially coming off their 108-3 win against Ohio State last weekend.

Graziano said they once again got a little banged up and had two players come out with minor injuries.

Freshman Anne Schnura twisted her ankle again. Freshman Diana Zultowski had some problems with her shoulder and was out for the bulk of the game.

“We are really learning to adapt to being down some players,” Graziano said. “We don’t let that bother us anymore.”

Graziano said seniors Marlise Davidson and Jaki Brophy did a great job keeping the team in the game.

Manto said she thinks that the team sometimes forgets to look up to their senior captains, Davidson and Brophy.

“They both played rugby even before Eastern, and they have so much experience,” Manto said. “When the rest of the team is sort of crumbling and falling apart we need to remember we can count on them and they definitely carried us through this game.”

Graziano said Davidson realized the Panthers weren’t doing so well in the back line, and they were losing yards and dropping passes, so she kept kicking it and kept them moving forward.

“They both did a fantastic job getting the ball down the field,” Graziano said. “Without both of them I don’t think we would have won.”