The Oregon women’s Rugby Club continued the strong start of its Pacific Northwest title defense on Feb. 18 with a 19-7 victory over perennial rival Oregon State, closing out the first half of the season with an undefeated record in league play.
The club also secured a sixth-place finish at the Stanford Invitational Tournament, a competition featuring some of the nation’s top-ranked teams.
The Ducks are already guaranteed a berth in the regional playoffs, but three more games stand between the team and its fifth-straight championship.
This year’s roster includes many younger players, but the club finds leadership in three seniors, including one All-American.
The season began on Nov. 17, Civil War weekend, and while the game didn’t grab headlines, the contest between the Ducks and Beavers was intense. This edition of the rivalry was tighter than in years past; one converted try was the difference in the 17-10 result. Stephanie Hyde, Molly Regan and Kara Winek all scored one try each for Oregon.
After a long break that encompassed the winter holidays, the Ducks flew south to Palo Alto, Calif., to compete on Jan. 28-29 against the top teams on the West Coast as well as eastern powerhouses James Madison and Radcliffe.
Oregon’s weekend started against the defending national champions, Stanford. The Cardinal rolled to a 26-5 victory, but the Ducks bounced back a few hours later, pulling off an upset of No. 14 UC Santa Barbara, 17-16. Oregon nabbed a 19-7 win over Radcliffe before falling in the fourth contest of the day to James Madison, 22-5.
The games began again early the next day, and in the second consolation semifinal the Ducks prevailed in a low-scoring affair against UCLA, 10-5. Oregon advanced to the tournament’s fifth-place game, where they were shut out by California 22-0, putting the Ducks in sixth place in the final standings.
“This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, but we have a strong team,” Winek said.
The team is led by a trio of seniors, a group that includes All-American Krista Gust, who made her debut for the U-23 women’s national team last year. The 30-player squad is filled out by many players new to collegiate rugby, but the group is learning the ropes quickly.
“It took me a couple of years to get comfortable, but these guys are just picking it up like that,” Winek said.
Oregon resumed league play with a home game against Reed College on Feb. 11. The visitors scored 14 minutes into the game only to see an immediate reply by Winek and the Ducks around the 20-minute mark. The home team pulled ahead with an unconverted try by Liz Kilgore, but Reed marched back down the field to tie the game at 12-12. Ramey Marshall scored for Oregon just before halftime, and Regan put up the only try of the second half to put the game away.
The next weekend, the Ducks took a short ride north for the in-state rematch against Oregon State. Oregon lacked execution early in the contest, but pulled away from the Beavers in the second half thanks to scores from Marshall, Hillary Martin and Jessica Guenther.
“We were beating ourselves with our mistakes,” Winek said. “But we were better conditioned and we were working really hard.”
Oregon hosts Western Washington at Riverfront Field Feb. 25 at
11 a.m. for the final home game of the regular season. The Ducks also have rematches with Reed and Western Washington before the regional playoffs begin.
“Hopefully, we’ll make it to the sweet sixteen; we’re playing for our upperclassmen and our alumni,” Winek said. “We have a tradition to uphold.”