The Panthers’ rugby team opens their season on the road and that is the way head coach Frank Graziano likes it.

“I like playing on the road the first game,” Graziano said. “It is good to get the team together, bonding experience to travel right out of the gate and put everybody in an unfamiliar territory. Not being at home and comfortable, the girls tend to cling to each other, which is a great way to start the season off.”

The Panthers head to play the Wisconsin College All-Stars at noon Saturday in Milwaukee, Wis.

Graziano said the good thing about playing this all-star team is that while all the players are very skilled, they most likely will not have had too much time to play together.

The All-Star team is comprised of the top women’s rugby athletes from various college club teams in the Wisconsin area. They are brought together for the game, but usually don’t have more than a two-hour practice to play as a team.

“When dealing with an all-star team you usually have very talented individuals, but you just aren’t sure what their chemistry is going to be like and how they are going to work together,” Graziano said.

One advantage Graziano said the Panthers might have is that they have been working as a team for two full weeks and should be more organized and efficient. Graziano said the first game of the season is always a huge learning experience and you never know exactly what to expect.

“We know we are going to make mistakes but we have discussed looking beyond those and working through those,” Graziano said. “We are preparing ourselves for bad bounces, bad passes and missed tackles and that type of stuff that is going to occur in the first game of the season.”

Graziano said the team would use this game as a stepping-stone and take specific incidents from it and learn from them.

Having so many new players, the Panthers are expecting it to be quite a big learning experience.

“I am so excited, but still a little nervous with all the new people,” senior flyhalf Amanda Fromm said. “You can never be sure if they are 100 percent ready and they never really are until they get that first game out of the way. The freshman and the walk-ons that we have this year are doing fantastic so far and I am excited to see the light bulb click this weekend.”

Red-shirt freshman Narissa Ramirez, who will be starting at scrum half, shares that feeling of nervousness and excitement.

“Honestly, I am nervous,” Ramirez said. “I have never played rugby. It is my first game ever, but the girls have helped me a lot and I feel confident in my knowledge and what I learned so far. It also helps to know that my team is behind me and will help me out. I think we are going to do very well.”

Brandy Provaznik can be reached at 581-7944 or at blprovaznikh@eiu.edu.

Junior flanker Stephanie Militello reaches out for the ball thrown by senior teammate Ashley Lukaszewski during practice on Wednesday. The team discussed plans for the new season and practiced drills to prepare for the upcoming game against the Wisconsin

(more…)