The Eastern rugby team beat the Quinnipiac Bobcats in Hamden, Conn. to improve their record to 6-0.

Eastern flew out to the East Coast and experienced no sense of jet lag or culture shock as they beat up on the Bobcats.

Eastern and Quinnipiac played a very aggressive first half that led to both teams having multiple scoring opportunities in the first 40 minutes of play.

Each team was moving the ball well, but each team was struggling to capitalize in scoring situations.

“We started out very well and we had great scoring opportunities, but we just couldn’t quite finish the play,” Eastern Head Coach Frank Graziano said. “We got a score in the 28th minute on a nice 70-yard play and had a nice 12 point lead at the half.”

The remainder of the first half was a back and forth offensive affair, but Eastern was able to keep the Bobcats out of the end zone in the first half.

Although the Panthers came out with energy and put together a good first half, they only put up 12 points in the first 40 minutes of play.

“I was trying to keep their confidence up but they were a bit disappointed to not have converted on their scoring opportunities,” Graziano said.

The second half was a different story, and the Panthers began to capitalize on their scoring opportunities.

Junior center Lauren Doyle and senior captain Narissa Ramirez paced the offensive attack in the second half as the Panthers began to pull away from the Bobcats.

The Panthers recorded 21 second-half points en route to the 33-5 win.

Graziano was impressed with how his team handled the weekend road trip.

The young Panther squad was able to fly across the country and walk away with a very impressive win.

The game made the Panthers record 2-0 against the Bobcats this season, and they will look to make it a perfect 3-0 when they meet at Lakeside Field on Nov. 6.

In the meantime, the Panthers will be back in action this weekend when they host the Northern Iowa Panthers at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Jordan Pottorff can be reached at 581-7942 or jbpottorff@eiu.edu.