In their third season since moving to the varsity level, the women’s rugby team (1–2–0 overall, 0–1–0 Ivy League) claimed their first ever win on Sept. 21 against Bowdoin College (1–1–0 overall, 0–0–0 NCAA DIII) with a final score of 59–0.
It’s been a long time in the making for Princeton women’s rugby, with an 0–7 inaugural campaign in 2022 followed up with another difficult 0–6 season in 2023. After two shutout losses to begin the season to Sacred Heart and Dartmouth, Princeton’s win against Bowdoin was a much needed step forward for the young program.
“It’s been over two years that we’ve been wanting this,” women’s rugby head coach Josie Ziluca told The Daily Princetonian. “It’s a really momentous time for us where we feel we’ve finally earned something that we’ve been wanting for a long time.”
Hard work pays off.
— Princeton Women's Rugby (@PUWRFC) September 21, 2024
First varsity 15’s win for Josie Ziluca! 💦 pic.twitter.com/fBz5mjCIdx
The match was held at the newly finished Rickerson Field, and was attended by Stu Rickerson ’71 himself, former Princeton men’s rugby player and founding chair of the Princeton University Rugby Endowment Board.
The Tigers also held their annual pride celebration game in support of the LGBTQ+ community, with pride rugby shirts sported by many coaches and athletic assistants. “This is our pride celebration game that’s really important to us, recognizing that community,” Ziluca told the ‘Prince.’
The match with Bowdoin started off with back and forth possession in the middle of the pitch until the Tigers began their first major run about five minutes after the kick-off. The scoring began with sophomore back row Hannah Mulligan, who scored the first try just under eight minutes into the match, with a successful conversion kick by sophomore utility back Malinka Kwemo.
Princeton continued to dominate with a total of four tries and three scoring kicks by halftime gaining a 26–0 lead. They extended this lead throughout the final 40 minutes of the match, maintaining possession of the ball for a majority of the time, and shutting down offensive runs by Bowdoin.
“Our defensive connection was a lot better,” senior captain and outside back Sofie Grouws told the ‘Prince.’ “We had confidence in ourselves and our ability to play and it showed.”
Scoring a hat trick for the Tigers was sophomore wing Celia Watson, with the last try earned in the final minute of the match. Mulligan also scored two tries, and Kwemo made seven out of the nine total conversion kicks.
“It took everyone on the field and everyone on the roster to be able to get that done, and that’s how our team operates,” Ziluca said. “It’s just a great reflection of all the hard work we’ve been doing.”
This year, the team hopes to continue to grow and progress as a new program at the Division I level, in a conference that features some of womens rugby’s best, including Harvard and Dartmouth.
“We want to be a competitive team to the rest of the D1 [Division I] league,” junior captain and utility row CJ Maguire told the ‘Prince.’
“We’re hoping to show people that every year they’re going to see a different Princeton rugby and just keep raising our own standard,” Grouws added.
The Tigers will take on Brown (2–0–1 overall, 0–0–0 Ivy League) at home on Sept. 28 at 12:00 p.m.
Devon Rudolph is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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