As the season winds down, the Norwich women’s rugby team has high expectations for the rest of the year and their post-season matches. “This year the team was ranked third in the nation in a preseason poll,” said Jessica Rosado, 19, a sophomore civil engineering major from the Bronx, N.Y. “It’s really competitive for positions [on the team] this year.”
In early September, the women’s rugby team played in a Canadian tournament. It was a really good building block,” said Hannah Bushey, 20, a sophomore psychology major from Essex, Vt.
“We got to see what our team has and play a lot of rugby in a short period of time,” said Bushey.
“We played six games and we came in second place at the end, losing to the host team, Montreal Irish,” said Amanda Granillo, 19, a sophomore criminal justice major from Easton, Mass.
“They had a lot of experience and were a women’s club team between the ages of 18 and 35,” said Granillo.
“We showed huge improvement from last year where we came in dead last and didn’t win any games [in the tournament],” said Katie Gingras, 18, a sophomore psychology major from Wethersfield, Conn.
The women’s rugby team often has several newcomers join the team. This year there are only two players who are new to the sport. “This is the most talent we’ve had in a freshmen class since I’ve been here,” said Anita Moreno, 20, a junior criminal justice major from Long Island, N.Y., and vice-captain of the team.
“This year we have a lot of people who have already played,” said Moreno.
The returning players “stepped it up a lot” knowing there would be a good incoming freshman class.
“Everyone’s pretty much on the same level. It’s nice being able to play with people who know how to play; not so much teach, but prepare for the season,” Moreno said.
“The team is also working well together and we have really good team chemistry,” Gingras said.
“I think we have a really good chance of going really far this year. This is the best we’ve done in preseason in a while. Our team’s meshing together really well already,” Moreno said.
“I’m really optimistic about [the rest of the season]; I’m so excited. I think we have a good group of girls and I think we all want to win and go to nationals,” Bushey said