The Eastern rugby team defeated Grand Valley State in its first home game of the season. The Panthers ran their way to a 32-0 victory Saturday at Lakeside Rugby Field.

The team was led by senior wing Crystal Jones, who ran in two trys. Also, with a try and two assists, was senior center Ashley Jenkins. Jenkins had a scary moment towards the end of the game as she had to miss the final five minutes because of an injury.

With the win, the Panthers (2-0) have run their winning streak up to a program-high 18 games. They also recorded their seventh consecutive shutout.

Eastern players said before the game, Grand Valley State was not a team to be taken lightly, and it was important for the Panthers to jump out to an early lead.

“They stayed focused this week and listened to the coaching staff,” Eastern head coach Frank Graziano said. “They did really well.”

Junior flyhalf Coartney McKinney also got into the scoring action, going 2-for-5 on two-point conversions and 1-for-2 on penalty kicks.

Although the score may not indicate it, Graziano said it was a hard fought game, and he was happy his team was able to pull out the victory in a defensive battle.

“This game was so close,” Graziano said. “It was back and forth and back and forth. I didn’t want to let Grand Valley get any sort of momentum because we were tired, but we were able to keep them out (of the try zone).”

The Panthers next game is at noon Saturday against Iowa State in Ames, Iowa.

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

Narissa Ramirez, red-shirt sophomore scrum-half, grabs hold of Grand Valley State’s Amanda Godfrey as teammate Ashley Jenkins, senior center, prepares to tackle during the game on Sept. 12 at the Lakeside Field. (Karolina Strack/The Daily Eastern News)

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