The No. 24 Oregon women’s rugby team opens its regular season this Friday in Eugene against the lone NCAA Division I women’s rugby team in the nation, Eastern Illinois State.
Oregon, nicknamed the “Dirty Ducks,” has won the Pacific Northwest championship six of the past seven seasons, and returns 20 players from last year. Kickoff is 2:30 p.m. at Riverfront Field, located on the south bank of the Willamette River, next to the Autzen Stadium footbridge. Oregon hasn’t lost a match at home in six years.
Eastern Illinois, meanwhile, is not only historic, but good.
The Panthers’ first-ever game at Division I status was Sept. 15 against the West Chester Golden Rams, the nation’s only Division II team. The program, however, has existed since 1998. In that time, Eastern Illinois head coach Frank Graziano has compiled a 59-15 overall record. Oregon’s team, by contrast, is designated as a club sport and is funded by student fees and club fundraising, such as cleaning McArthur Court after basketball games.
Billed as “the premiere NCAA Division I women’s program in the nation,” the EIU Panthers are 3-2 this year, with their last win being a 108-3 victory over Ohio State University. In its three wins, Eastern Illinois has outscored its opponents 264-3.
The game represents a unique chance for the Ducks to prove themselves against NCAA-caliber competition.
“It’ll test these girls, and I told them I’m looking forward to it,” said Oregon head coach Greg Farrell.
“Pretty much it could help us get a lot more recognition, but we should be a Division I sport because we play against all Division I athletes,” senior Autumn Manelick said.
The Dirty Ducks began practicing three weeks ago, continuing the intense training regimen that has become a team staple under Farrell. According to Farrell, the team doesn’t usually start matches until November.
“We’re going to be a powerhouse,” said Manelick.
Oregon returns 14 starters this season and is looking ahead to taking on conference rivals Oregon State and Western Oregon, not to mention advancing to the national tournament in Florida. Last year, Oregon advanced to the regional tournament, held at Stanford University.
“We want to make it to the Sweet Sixteen or the Final Four, and this year we have a really good chance to do that,” said Manelick.
Coach Farrell views his team’s depth as its biggest advantage.
“We have a lot of big powerful forwards that I’ll put up against anybody on the Pacific Coast,” said Farrell, a former Oregon wrestler. “In eight years I’ve never had this much talent coming back before.”
As EIU goes to show, rugby is one of the newest and least-known Division I sports. Only four of the 32 players on the Oregon roster played in high school. Manelick joined because of a family connection; both her brothers played collegiately at Penn State.
Before trying rugby, Jenn Greenspan, the club’s co-coordinator, had already competed at the Division I level for the University – as a shot putter on the Oregon track and field team. Recruiting players can be a struggle, which is part of why having such an experienced unit has Farrell extremely positive about his team’s fortune.
“They either love it or hate it within the first week, and you usually lose half of them,” said Farrell. “Returning players are huge, especially at the college level, where normally every four years you rotate everyone out completely.”
[email protected]