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Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast
Women's Rugby Falls In NIRA Competition To Dartmouth
September 14, 2024 | Women's Rugby
HANOVER, N.H. – Facing one of the nation's elite programs, the Princeton University women's rugby team fell to Dartmouth at Brophy Field Saturday afternoon in the Tigers' second match of their third varsity season.
The Big Green were National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) national runner-up in 2023, and NIRA National Champions in 2022 and 2021.
"We had massive improvements for our cohesion as a team and how we confront adversity," said Head Coach Josie Ziluca. "Today was a big character game and the win for us was that we never put our heads down. We looked to each other, picked each other up and kept fighting forward. That's something we've been working on for years, it's exciting to see control in that area.
Our forwards in the scrum were really strong and resilient. They were able to compete and even push back a national championship caliber team. I'm proud of the forwards. Shout out to Raven Robinson, she got awarded Forward of the Match from Dartmouth for her hard work, her hard drives and tackling. Elizabeth Polubinski is sometimes and unsung hero, she's always there and her connection with the team is so strong. Lindsey Mulligan is a tackling monster, she really helped our defense.
I made a big shift for Annie Huettel, who play scrumhalf for us. It was her debut at that position. She did very well, showed so much composure and helped unite our forwards and backs with a lot of organization. Annie was the player's player today. We had a big game from Ciara Loughran who was playing wing but helped out in the back field fielding kicks under pressure and making some good decisions there. We also had Laura Barnds who was playing number 12 get a shoutout as Back of the Match from Dartmouth. This is her second time starting and playing a full game. She's a walk on who has really stepped up and honed her rugby skills. She has this never say die attitude and just keeps going.
On that note, I'm so proud of this team for looking adversity straight in the eye and saying I'm not going to give up, I'm going to keep going and my teammates are here to help. The score is what it is, but it does not reflect the effort that was given by the team and our team is walking away with their head held high and smiles on their faces because we know that we accomplished some things that we wanted to get done.
We're looking forward to next week at home against Bowdoin. It's going to be a big match with our Pride celebration and it kicks off at 12 p.m. We're excited to have a big crowd out there."
Despite many positive moments for Princeton, the Tigers fell to Dartmouth with a final score of 93-0.
Up Next
The Tigers host Bowdoin (0-0) at Rickerson Field at Haaga House at 12 p.m. on Sept. 21.
The Big Green were National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) national runner-up in 2023, and NIRA National Champions in 2022 and 2021.
"We had massive improvements for our cohesion as a team and how we confront adversity," said Head Coach Josie Ziluca. "Today was a big character game and the win for us was that we never put our heads down. We looked to each other, picked each other up and kept fighting forward. That's something we've been working on for years, it's exciting to see control in that area.
Our forwards in the scrum were really strong and resilient. They were able to compete and even push back a national championship caliber team. I'm proud of the forwards. Shout out to Raven Robinson, she got awarded Forward of the Match from Dartmouth for her hard work, her hard drives and tackling. Elizabeth Polubinski is sometimes and unsung hero, she's always there and her connection with the team is so strong. Lindsey Mulligan is a tackling monster, she really helped our defense.
I made a big shift for Annie Huettel, who play scrumhalf for us. It was her debut at that position. She did very well, showed so much composure and helped unite our forwards and backs with a lot of organization. Annie was the player's player today. We had a big game from Ciara Loughran who was playing wing but helped out in the back field fielding kicks under pressure and making some good decisions there. We also had Laura Barnds who was playing number 12 get a shoutout as Back of the Match from Dartmouth. This is her second time starting and playing a full game. She's a walk on who has really stepped up and honed her rugby skills. She has this never say die attitude and just keeps going.
On that note, I'm so proud of this team for looking adversity straight in the eye and saying I'm not going to give up, I'm going to keep going and my teammates are here to help. The score is what it is, but it does not reflect the effort that was given by the team and our team is walking away with their head held high and smiles on their faces because we know that we accomplished some things that we wanted to get done.
We're looking forward to next week at home against Bowdoin. It's going to be a big match with our Pride celebration and it kicks off at 12 p.m. We're excited to have a big crowd out there."
Despite many positive moments for Princeton, the Tigers fell to Dartmouth with a final score of 93-0.
Up Next
The Tigers host Bowdoin (0-0) at Rickerson Field at Haaga House at 12 p.m. on Sept. 21.
Players Mentioned
Utility Forward
/ Women's Rugby
Utility Back
/ Women's Rugby
Fullback
/ Women's Rugby
Center
/ Women's Rugby
Front Row
/ Women's Rugby
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