At mid-season, those prospects were turned on their heads. The men (1-3-0) have been all but eliminated from playoff contention, whereas the women (2-3-1) have locked up a playoff spot with their win Friday over the Wesleyan University Cardinals.
At first, offense was in extremely short supply for the women, who opened the season by suffering three consecutive shutouts. At the same time, the tenacity of their defense, which allowed opponents double-figures in scoring only twice this season, was evident right from the start.
The women opened the season Sept. 15 with the Beantown Tournament at the University of Massachusetts. In their first game, they fell to Cornell University in an excruciatingly close 5-0 defeat, which they followed with a loss to defending New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU) champion UMass 22-0.
The women's scoring difficulties continued in their Sept. 22 home opener, in which they fell to the Smith College Pioneers 22-0.
After the three scoreless outings, the Jeffs adopted new offensive tactics, emphasizing a more aggressive attack. "We've been working on playing a more offensive game," said club President Becca Muse-Orlinoff '03 said.
The turning point of the women's season came early in the second half of the Sept. 27 game against the University of Connecticut. Muse-Orlinoff scored to give the Jeffs a 5-0 lead. The Jeffs went on to win that game 17-7, and have gone undefeated since.
The tough, tenacious defense that has characterized the women's team was out in force in the Oct. 6 game against Williams College. The women manhandled the Ephs-causing several Williams players to leave the game due to injury-holding them to only five points. The Eph defense, while not as punishing, was just as effective, and the game ended in a 5-5 tie.
The Jeffs' successful season culminated in a 12-7 victory over Wesleyan University to clinch a NERFU playoff berth. The playoffs will be held Oct. 27-28 at UMass. The winner of that tournament will represent NERFU at the National Rugby Union championship tournament in November.
The men's team, whose season opener against league powerhouse Dartmouth College had been cancelled due to the Sept. 11 attacks, instead began their season with a devastating 80-0 reaming at the hands of Army.
The men's difficulties continued in their Sept. 27 game against Harvard University. Trailing only 6-0 at the half, the Jeff's defense fell apart en route to a 35-15 defeat.
A controversial call by the referee cost the men their third game of the season, an 11-10 loss to the University of New Hampshire.
After play had ended, the referee reinstated a UNH kick for points-which most believed had gone wide-turning the game from a 10-8 Amherst victory into a 11-10 UNH win. Although the men initially protested the result to NERFU officials, they subsequently dropped their appeal, recognizing that-with or without the win-the men are unlikely to earn a berth in the postseason.
The men finally earned their first win of the season last Saturday with a 30-24 victory over Boston University. The Jeffs took an early 30-7 lead, but the Terriers charged back after penalties put two key Amherst players in the "Sin Bin" (penalty box).
"We've underachieved so far; we have a lot of potential, but we just got off to a bad start," Irv Rakhlin '04 said. "But this season isn't over. Our main goal is to beat Williams. We just need to come together as a team."
Dave Stasiak '03 leads the Jeffs with three tries scored in four games. Kieran Collins '03 is the women's leader with two tries.
Both teams play UMass tomorrow. The men face the Minutemen at home at 1:00 p.m., while the women seek revenge at UMass at 11:00 a.m.