Two years ago, Princeton women’s rugby (2–5) traveled to Mount St. Mary’s (0–6) for its inaugural game at the varsity level and lost 77–10. That season, humbling losses like that 67-point beatdown were typical. Now, things have changed. At the same field in Emmitsburg, Md., the Tigers controlled the game from start to finish en route to a commanding 49–12 victory.
“It’s really awesome to see the growth on the scoreline,” Head Coach Josie Ziluca told The Daily Princetonian. “It’s really fulfilling for our team.”
Just two years after becoming a varsity program, the Tigers still rely heavily on walk-ons, often coming in without much previous rugby experience. This has proven challenging for the program against more experienced teams.
“A lot of these teams that we are playing against, they’ve been a varsity program for seven, eight, or 10 years," Ziluca explained. “To go against some structures and teams that are full of recruits is always going to be a big challenge.”
Yet against Mount St. Mary’s, the walk-ons were not a liability, but rather a critical factor that helped generate an emotional win. Walk-on sophomore wing Ava Gregory scored two tries, and walk-on sophomore lock Maya Kenny added another in the victory.
“That was an amazing moment,” said Coach Ziluca, referring to Kenny and Gregory’s tries. “To have some of these players who spend so much time, to finally get rewarded.”
“It’s one of my most favorite things of coaching, seeing someone that’s brand new to rugby [complete] their first successful bit of play on the field with their team,” Ziluca added.
After a slow start to the game, sophomore fly-half Malinka Kwemo opened the scoring with a try. A few minutes later, she undertook a beautiful solo run, making four defenders miss en route to her second try of the game, and giving the Tigers a 10–0 lead.
The Tigers continued to relentlessly attack, and after a series of close calls Gregory received the ball and sped past everyone along the right sideline, scoring a try and giving the team a 15–0 lead. After Gregory scored again on a similar play — and Mount St. Mary’s responded with a try of their own, the Tigers took a 20–5 lead into halftime.
After the break, Kwemo capped off a nice sequence of passes with her third try of the game. Sophomore back row Hannah Mulligan then added another try with a bulldozing run into the try zone from very close out.
Two gritty tries from junior utility forward Amelia Clarke gave the Tigers a 42–5 lead, before the first-ever try of Kenny’s career capped off the blowout.
Star player Kwemo, who orchestrated the team brilliantly from her position in the center of the field, credited the victory to the team’s close-knit culture and the incredible bonds between the recruits and walk-ons.
“I feel like our team has an insane amount of potential,” Kwemo said. “We have the best walk-ons of any team I’ve ever seen or played against.”
The Tigers look to finish their season strong at home against Queens (3–4) next Sunday. After the victory, the Tigers are confident in using this season as a building block for bigger and better seasons to come.
“I definitely feel like our team can do anything,” Kwemo concluded.
Zachary Meisel is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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