In rugby fifteens format, the Eastern rugby team yields an average of seven points per game in their history.

The 31-point outburst by Middle Tennessee State left the Panthers and their head coach, Frank Graziano, scratching their heads.

“Our offense was good, we were able to read the defenses better,” Graziano said. “The defense was adequate though, and our tackling was not great. I am not sure why (it) happened; we are usually a good tackling team.”

Some of the credit can go to MTSU as well, as they were able to break key tackles and stay in the game.

“The MTSU girls were able to get their hands free and pass the ball,” Graziano said. “We practiced not only wrapping up the player, but wrapping up their hands so they could not get rid of the ball. Some of those plays were poor tackling and others were just nice plays by MTSU.”

Despite the dismal defensive performance, sophomores Kim Youhas and Carissa Burge were still able to record six solo tackles each.

Along with those individual efforts, the squad was able to get the job done with their offense.

Eastern scored nine trys in the game, with six of them coming from sophomore center Madison Kissner and senior standout Lauren Doyle.

Doyle returned from her trip to China with the U.S National Women’s Rugby Team and participated in the contest with the Blue Raiders, scoring 15 points in the match.

Her participation marked only the second time she has been in the lineup for Eastern this year, after playing in 31 straight games heading into the season.

“We are just trying to keep her sharp,” Graziano said. “She came back and told us she wanted to play, so we found a way to work her into the lineup.”

Eastern will travel to Georgia Tech this weekend to take on the Yellow Jackets in the first-ever meeting between these two teams. The game is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Sunday in Atlanta, Ga.

Around The League

Among those feeling the effects of Hurricane Sandy was the Rutgers women’s rugby team. With damage to their facility, the storm forced the Scarlet Knights to postpone their meeting with Quinnipiac for a later date.

Up next for Quinnipiac is the Tri-State Conference Tournament, which begins on Sunday.

In other action, West Chester closed out its fall season by besting Shippensburg 25-5 to improve its record to 4-1-1 on the year.

Bowdoin squeaked past Middlebury 15-10 in the New England Small College Rugby Conference championship game Saturday to cap off its first-ever conference title. The win gives the Polar Bears an automatic bid to the National Division II Championships in the spring.

Nicholas Ruffolo can be reached at 581-2812 or nfruffolo@eiu.edu.