Any thoughts of a championship hangover by the Wayne State women’s rugby team were quickly erased, after its 38-0 drubbing of Northern Iowa on Friday night.

The Lady ‘Cats used experience, speed and excellent wide passing to overwhelm the Panthers in every aspect of the game.

“Our backline was simply unstoppable. They simply ran past the defense,” Coach Darren Barner said. “We did not have ball possession too often in the game, but when we did have it and swung the ball wide, it was poetry in motion.”

Scoring started early in the game for the Wildcats, with Maryssa Schleis taking the ball out wide on the right side for a 35-yard scamper into the end zone. This was followed by a 25-yard scoring run by Leanna Rosburg and a ten-yard scrum pick-up play for another try by Kelcie Stutzman to bring the halftime score to 19-0.

“The second score of the game to go up 14-0 really got us looking forward and showed us that we had all the momentum,” Barner said. “UNI had a great opportunity to score late in the first half only being 15 yards out and we had a very determined defense to hold them out of the end zone and ended up causing a critical turnover.”

Turner Macphee started the second half with a bruising 20-yard run and pass play to Shelbi Brown, who took the ball the distance for the try. The game was capped off by two impressive runs by Mia Wright and Alyssa Fischer, who showed great athleticism and stamina by taking the ball 50-plus yards, weaving in and out of defenders to go the distance for the scores.

“I think overall we played a good game tonight,” WSC Rugby player Jasmine Kovacs said. “It had been awhile since everyone had played a game and I was impressed with how quickly we got the rust out.”

With the victory, the Wayne State Lady ‘Cats were able to win their third fall opener in three years and knock off a perennial rugby powerhouse in Northern Iowa.

“I am beyond pleased with our ladies’ performance in tonight’s game,” Barner said. “Northern Iowa has been dominating in the larger school division, with two national championships and numerous Elite Eight and Final Four finishes.
Their girls were certainly D1 athletes, they were big and strong. We stepped up on the stage and sang our school fight song and did an incredible job on the first game of the year.”

The Wayne State women’s rugby team will continue to face their Division I foes for the next few weeks, meanwhile the men will play in their season opener next Saturday, when they travel to the University of Wisconsin on Sept. 17.