The Panthers were down 7-0 to Illinois for the first 28 minutes of their game Saturday when sophomore lock Chase Cain ran in two trys within three minutes of each other to give Eastern some much needed momentum.

The Panthers started the game off slowly, but Cain’s trys helped lead them to a 36-19 victory, Graziano said.

“We were stuck on their side of the field for so long and I was just like, ‘we need to do something,’ and I just picked up the ball and did it,” Cain said.

The two trys were Cain’s first of her career and head coach Frank Graziano said they could not have come at a better time.

Cain said that since that was her first score ever she thinks that helped to get people more excited.

“It is kind of like a huge joke that I never can score, so I think that it was kind of a big deal to the team and helped everyone forget about them scoring on us and get us going again,” Cain said.

The Illini scored in the first couple minutes of the game and for the next twenty minutes the Panthers could not get into a rhythm

“We didn’t have much fire and we were playing flat, like we were stuck in neutral,” Graziano said. “But Chase’s trys really got us going.”

Cain’s first try and a conversion tied the score at 7-7.

Cain’s second try and another try from junior center Molly Cluttter with about five minutes left in the first half made the score 17-7 at half time.

Within the first ten minutes of the second half junior wing Samantha Manto and Clutter scored and two conversion kicks made it 31-7.

Illinois put a try and a conversion on the board, followed by a try from sophomore wing Crystal Jones making the score 36-14.

An Illinois try in the last few minutes added five points to their score and ended the game, 36-19.

Graziano said that the defense is an area he still thinks needs some improving and that it was pretty evident in the game this weekend.

“We have given up more points this season than we ever had in any season so far,” Graziano said. “Our defense is still an issue and we are struggling a little positionally and tackling wise.”

The Panthers will play again on Friday against the South Carolina All-Stars in Clemson, S.C. in the last match of the season.