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With a perfect season behind them, women’s rugby is only two wins away from the final four

The+Wildcats+wait+for+UNL+to+feed+the+scrum+on+Saturday%E2%80%99s+game

Photo by Joan Bergeron

The Wildcats wait for UNL to feed the scrum on Saturday’s game

Courtney Upah, Staff Writer

In the final game of the regular season for women’s rugby, three points were all that stood between them and an imperfect record, and those three points were probably among the hardest won all year.

 
The women’s team played against UNL, and this win left the team undefeated as they finished 14-0.

 
“We knew going into this game that the Huskers were going to be tough competition for us. We weren’t sure how close the game was going to be, but this game was a great test for us going into playoffs,” said Hannah Meyer, the rugby captain.

 
In the match up, the Wildcats took an early lead and kept that momentum throughout the game, keeping ahead of the Huskers until there was five minutes left in the game.

 
The Huskers gained three points on the Wildcats, and then another seven after scoring a conversion, bringing the score to 28-25.

 
The Lady ‘Cats held onto that lead in the last remaining minutes, winning the game by a mere three points.

 
“I feel like we didn’t reach our full potential as a whole, but we always find a way to play well as a team at the end,” women rugby player Faith Sorensen said.

 
The men’s rugby team also played on Saturday, at Creighton in Omaha, winning a close match of 26-22.

 
Wayne was off to an early lead, but with three minutes left in the match, Creighton scored and pulled ahead of the Wildcats, making total 22-21.

 
Three minutes isn’t much time to get things done, but the Wildcats worked the ball downfield, and with almost no time remaining, spun the ball out wide left.

 
It was a full team effort as the ball was passed to five different players, finally ending as WSC player Josh Schollmeyer scored 25 yards out into the end zone to win the game.

 
“We all knew what was on the line and what we had to do, [my teammates] did a great job not giving up until the very end and setting me up in a way to make something happen,” Schollmeyer said.

 
The previous games the rugby teams played were against the University of South Dakota over Midterm break, Saturday, Oct. 17.

 
The game was a piece of cake for the Lady ‘Cats, who lead USD 46-0 in the end of the first half. By the second half of the game, the entire roster saw playing time as head coach Darrin Barner substituted several freshman in for the starting players. They proved to be as good as the rest of the team as they earned many carries and tackles on defense.

 
WSC ended up winning 89-0 not giving up a single point.

 
These wins put the women’s rugby team into the national playoffs for the fourteenth year in a row.

 
The Wildcat men played after the women and won their game 44-0.

 
Although the regular season is over, the postseason is just beginning. The rugby teams are going to take this week to practice, then Wayne State will host the Elite 8 Championship on Nov. 14 and 15.

 
Because of bracketing, the women are now only two wins away from making the Final Four, which is being held in Charlotte, N.C.

 
“Our playoff games will be held in Wayne the second weekend in November. We would love to see everyone there,” Meyer said.