Another undefeated season for the Eastern rugby team, the second in a row and a senior class that has only lost three games in its career highlights the accomplishments for this season’s team.

But all of that work started last spring with a book and, oddly enough, also involved the Connecticut 2008-2009 women’s basketball team.

Eastern head coach Frank Graziano and assistant coach Eileen O’Rouke took turns teaching the rugby team lessons from Jim Collins’ “Good to Great.”

Graziano and O’Rouke treated their Tuesday night weekly sessions during the spring like a regular class hoping the work would translate to fall and to the game of rugby for the squad.

Graziano said they would translate those lessons and philosophies into practice and in the games as the book went everywhere.

“We kept talking about it constantly. Constantly. Maybe that’s how we won those two games,” Graziano said. “Maybe that’s what allowed us to win.”

Graziano is talking about the two games Eastern almost didn’t win.

The first game Eastern had a close call and still came out with a win was Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Panthers needed a penalty kick as time expired from junior flyhalf Coartney McKinney to win 29-27.

Then, two weeks later against Northern Iowa, Eastern needed a try in the final minute from senior wing Crystal Jones to win 22-20.

The rest is history as the Panthers cruised to their second-straight undefeated season with 10 wins against club teams this season and now have run their undefeated streak to a program-best 26 games.

In addition to the book this season, the team also carried around a Connecticut women’s basketball T-shirt that Graziano picked last year at the Final Four in St. Louis. Graziano had the Eastern players sign it and used the T-shirt and the focus of going undefeated even when the team’s not playing the best.

The Huskies, however, went 39-0 to claim the National Championship and won by an average of 10 points and most nights by 20 or more points.

Graziano also said he might consult Eastern assistant volleyball coach Katie Price about winning even when a team doesn’t play its best for next year’s rugby team.

Price was part of the Penn State team that won the 2007 national championship team and now Penn State has won 92 matches in row, which is tied for the second-longest streak in Division I sports.

The Panthers realized they weren’t pefect everyday, but they still strived to achieve that.

“We still knew we could get it done,” said senior No. 8 Stephanie Militello. “There were some games we weren’t at our greatest. It’s a personal thing. A lot of us hate to lose. “

Graziano has had the players pass down an item for each season. This season the Panthers used the book and the T-shirt.

The Panthers used a lunchbox last season with different notes on philosophies and maintaining a good rugby program inside of it.

After Saturday’s win against the Midwest College All-Stars, the senior class handed the game ball to the junior class with its undefeated mark on it.

“We have something physical already to touch,” Graziano said. “That ball is part of the theme. It’s part of the culture we’re developing here. It’s not something that happens every year. We learned how to play great when we needed to play great.”

Graziano said he’s trying to create that type of environment, but he said the success of the past two seasons was last year’s class and the five players who won’t return for next season – all to graduation.

Also, the difference the freshmen made along with sophomore scrum-half Narissa Ramirez allowed the Panthers to put its third undefeated season to go along with the 2008 and 2002 season.

“I asked the seniors to play the best that they ever played,” Graziano said in an attempt to go undefeated. “We knew that was going to be a challenge this year.”

And they did.

Senior flanker Chase Cain and senior No. 8 Stephanie Militello will go down as the top tacklers in the history of the program.

Senior center Ashley Jenkins was key with her runs and developing freshman center Lauren Doyle and the other freshman. Jones was again key as a top scorer and junior flanker Tiffany Kennedy was key on the lineouts.

“That’s probably why one of the main reasons are freshmen developed so well,” said Graziano of his seniors and Kennedy, who will graduate early.

Graziano said Ramirez ran the offense, not perfectly, but pretty darn well.

“I’m not sure how good she can get,” Ramirez said. “I’m going to teach her some stuff I haven’t taught since I was with the women’s national team. It’s her instincts. She’s just a quick study and a quick learner.”

Graziano said he tries to peruse the Internet during Winter Break to find new ideas. This season it happened to be the book and the T-shirt.

“l’m not different than any other coach,” Graziano said. “I use anything I can to try to get it across and make them learn.”

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or kjmurphy@eiu.edu.