Women's rugby falls in Beantown tourney
By By Angus Dwyer Sports Editor
Weakened by a lack of practice time last week, the women's rugby team endured two shut-out defeats at Saturday's Beantown Tournament at the University of Massachusetts.

The Jeffs first fell to Cornell University in an excruciatingly close 5-0 defeat and later succumbed to defending New England champion UMass by a score of 22-0.

The team's lack of offensive production may be more indicative of the team's lack of practice last week than of their actual ability.

Last Tuesday's practice, scheduled to be their first of the season, was canceled after that morning's terrorist attacks, as was last Wednesday's.

The team, which consists of a relatively high number of rookie players, had therefore only practiced twice, on Thursday and Friday, before their first games of the season.

"The scores don't reflect our performance. We played very well considering that we're a team with a lot of rookies, and we didn't get a chance to practice a lot last week," said Emily Stark '04.

The two games were closer than their scores would suggest, and the quality of the women's performance may give this rebuilding team hope for a successful season this year and next.

"Based on the way we played at the Beantown Tournament, I think we're going to have an excellent season," Stark said.

Because the men's game against Dartmouth College last Saturday was canceled, the Jeffs played an intramural scrimmage. They look to begin their season Saturday against traditional league powerhouse Army.

Issue 03, Submitted 2001-09-19 19:54:23