The Front Row Union

The Lady Panthers traveled to Nashville on the weekend of March 28-30th for the 26th Annual NashBash Tournament. This is the first time that the Panthers have participated in the tournament. The overwhelming consensus from the team was that this event should become a fixture on our spring schedule. For our Ulster Fans, and particularly our match hosts Cooke Women, if you’re looking to tour the states in late March, this is a great tournament to participate in…lots of teams from all over the states, and lots of good rugby.

The Panthers started of NashBash with a sound victory over the Washington University Women 62-0. With only two practices under their belts and a lot of new players in the lineup, the Panthers were rather pleased with their first round results.

The win paired the Panthers against Indiana University (Midwest Division 1 #1) in the second round. And needless to say the Indiana match didn’t pan out the way the Panthers had hoped. Indiana played with poise and their usual sound game plan. They also scored early and often as the Panthers struggled to find their continuity on defense and offense. The final result was an Indiana win 82-0. After the match, the Lady Panthers determined that they really want to meet Indiana again after they’ve had more time to prepare. The Panthers wish the Red Storm Women the best of Luck in the USA Rugby National Tournament!

Sunday Morning the Lady Panthers played their last match of the weekend against Ohio State University. The Match was going in the Panthers’ favor early on, but a few key injuries in the Panther lineup changed the course of events, with Ohio State winning 22-10.

All-in-all, NashBash served as a wakeup call for the Panthers and we saw quite a bit more intensity in practices in the ensuing week.

April 5th started the Wisconsin Season for the Panthers with Platteville’s Mudfest Tournament. The Panthers went on to win the Tournament posting three consecutive shut-out victories.

Game 1 - Panthers 57 - UW-Stout 0:
The Panthers drew UW-Stout in the first round of play, and after some early confusion in strategy by the Panther forwards, Lock Meghan Hausman touched down at 8:05 with a try. Meghan would later have a try disallowed as she stepped over the dead-ball line while trying to center the touch down. To Meghan’s credit, the in-goal areas were very shallow.

The Panthers had a decent amount of trouble holding on to the ball in the first game, and there were probably a few more scrummage’s than the forwards were comfortable with, but all in-all it was a sound effort to build upon.

Lineup w/ Scoring:
1) Jefcik, Renee 2) Trott, Theresa 3) Mayer, Amy - 5 (1 try) 4) Hausman - 5 (1 try) 5) Will, Shannon 6) LaMountain, Michelle 7) Jensen, Cori 8) Ney, Caila - 10 (2 tries) 9) Houston, Brittany 17 (1 try, 6 conversions) 10) Knox, Kara 11) Arntsen, Lia 12) Fickau, Lindsey 13) Biedenbender, Brittany - 10 (2 tries) 14) Warning, Corrie 15) Welch, Jenny 16) McCormick, Kati 17) Thorne, Julia 18) Yuhas, Lara 19) Uher, Aimee 20) Knurr, Michelle 21) Murphy, Samantha 22) Gill, Tina - 10 (2 tries)

Game 2 - Panthers 36 - UW-LaCrosse 0:
In the second round, UW-Milwaukee drew a strong UW-LaCrosse side. LaCrosse played tough rugby at the breakdowns, and it made it difficult for the Panthers to establish their forward phase play early in the game. The Panthers learned a lot in this game…namely that when you try and force things to happen, things don’t work out as you hope. But the team began to relax and trust in their gameplan…and as they did so, things began to turn in their favor.

Lineup w/ Scoring:
1) Thorne, Julia 2) Trott, Theresa 3) LaMountain, Michelle 4) Yuhas, Lara 5) Will, Shannon 6) Hausman, Meghan 7) Ney, Caila - 5 (1 try) 8) McCormick, Kati 9) Houston, Brittany - 6 (3 conversions) 10) Knox, Kara 11) Martin, Mollie - 15 (3 tries) 12) Fickau, Lindsey 13) Gill, Tina 14) Biedenbender, Brittany - 10 (2 tries) 15) Welch, Jenny 16) LaMountain, Michelle 17) Murillo, Erica 18) Jensen, Cori 19) Mayer, Amy 20) Buchinger, Angie 21) Schultz, Meghan 22) Knurr, Michelle 23) Arntsen, Lia 24) Murphy, Samantha 25) Craddock, Dena 26) Warning, Corrie

Championship - UW-Milwaukee 65 - Winona State University 0:
Things seemed to be working relatively well for the Panthers late in the day. The tournament proved to be another great opportunity for the ladies to work with one another to refine their style of play and make adjustments where necessary. The final with Winona State was - as always - another great meeting between the two clubs, and Winona Coach Roger Riley is one coach I hold in the highest regard.

Lineup w/ Scoring:
1) Thorne, Julia - 5 (1 try) 2) Trott, Theresa 3) Jensen, Cori 4) Yuhas, Lara 5) Will, Shannon 6) Hausman, Meghan 7) Ney, Caila - 10 (2 tries) 8) McCormick, Kati 9) Houston, Brittany - 25 (3 tries, 5 conversions) 10) Knurr, Michelle 11) Martin, Mollie - 10 (2 tries) 12) Gill, Tina 13) Will, Shannon - 5 (1 try) 14) Biedenbender, Brittany - 5 (1 try) 15) Welch, Jenny 16) LaMountain, Michelle 17) Murillo, Erica 18) Jefcik, Renee 19) Mayer, Amy 20) Buchinger, Angie 21) Schultz, Meghan 22) Knurr, Michelle - 5 (1 try) 23) Arntsen, Lia 24) Murphy, Samantha 25) Craddock, Dena

I hope this message finds all of you well!

Sincerely,

Cochise Scot!

5 try stunner’s Biedenbender, Martin and Ney with top scorer
Houston (4 trys, 14 conversions).

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