The Eastern women’s rugby team went into the Colorado game with an undefeated record and left the field at Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan., the same way.

The game was played at Kansas State because it was a neutral site about midway between the two schools.

Eastern (6-0) had never played Colorado (2-1) before, so the Panthers didn’t know much about the Buffaloes.

Eastern’s players said they knew Colorado had a good team and it would not be an easy win, but after an 86-0 victory the Panthers had a better feeling.

Not knowing anything about the Buffaloes made preparation more difficult for the Panthers, but they knew if they just played their usual style, they would come out with a good result. The Panthers rely on their speed players to score, and that’s what happened against Colorado.

Eastern finished the game with 50 second half points as they were led by senior wing Samantha Manto. Manto scored four trys, senior center Molly Clutter had three trys and junior wing Crystal Jones had two trys.

The Panthers also received strong efforts on the defensive side of the ball from juniors Stephanie Militello and Chase Cain.

Eastern, who has dominated its opponents in its last four games, seems as though they have finally come together.

The Panthers have several new players on the team this year and struggled in tight wins to start the season.

After winning their first two games by a combined seven points, the Panthers have won their last four games by a combined 338-8.

“We are kind of on a high right now,” Manto said. “We are not overconfident, but we know that if we play the way we know how that we are going to beat teams. We want to go 10-0 pretty bad. We play to win. We don’t play not to lose.”

With four games remaining the Panthers have a good chance of running the table the rest of the season.

Eastern’s toughest test will come against Illinois, as the Panthers beat the Fighting Illini twice last year but in two of the closer games of the season.

The Panthers beat Illinois 32-21 and 36-19 last year. Both games were played in Champaign. Eastern will host the Fighting Illini this season on Oct. 25.

The Panthers will return to Lakeside Rugby Field this weekend when they play Kansas at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Bob Shaughnessy can be reached at 581-7944 or at rrshaughnessy@eiu.edu.