Issue date: 9/10/09 Section: Sports

Rugby senior flanker Chase Cain picks up her "teammate, roommate, best friend and stand-up comedian," junior flanker Tiffany Kennedy, after the team's practice Wednesday at Lakeside Rugby Field. Cain, who had a career-high 19 tackles in Saturday's 90-0 victory over Ball State in Muncie, Ind., didn't come to Eastern to play rugby, but was drawn to the sport and has since become one of the team's most reliable tacklers. Head coach Frank Graziano said Cain has the best fitness and most desire of any tackler on the team.(Karolina Strack/The Daily Eastern News)

The Eastern rugby team defeated Ball State 90-0 on Sept. 5.

The score indicated the Eastern offense was putting up strong numbers, but it was also an impressive day for senior Chase Cain and the rest of the team's defense. 

Cain finished the game against Ball State with a career-high 19 solo tackles, which ranks her third on the all-time Eastern single-game tackle mark for rugby.

Cain also currently ranks second, behind teammate Stephanie Militello, for all-time tackling leader for the program.

Cain's performance against Ball State was enough to gain the attention of head coach Frank Graziano.

Graziano believes Cain's fitness is a strong reason why she is able to tackle so effectively. 

"Half of the battle of being a good tackler is the ability to get around the field and get to the ball as soon as possible," Graziano said. "There are probably girls on the team that have a better technique of tackling than Chase, but they do not have the fitness or the desire to tackle like she does. Half of (Cain's) tackling is having the desire to go in and make the tackle." 

Cain's teammate, junior flanker Tiffany Kennedy, said Cain's endurance and knowledge of the game helped her develop into a strong contributor for the team.

"Her defense is probably untouchable when it comes to this team," Kennedy said. "Her tackling and experience of defending certain situations has really helped develop her game." 

Despite the high praise by teammates and coaches alike, Cain actually didn't come to Eastern to play rugby.

She came to Eastern to swim. It wasn't until she realized she could do both at the same time that she finally took up an interest in rugby. 

"It wasn't until I spoke with (senior center) Ashley Jenkins that I realized that I could play both sports," Cain said. "Since rugby is more of a team sport, I kind of decided to pursue it further as opposed to going forward with swimming."

Cain, a flanker, credited the Eastern coaching staff for her quick introduction and development in the game of rugby.

"(Graziano) really knows the game of rugby and that has allowed the team to advance and develop much quicker," Cain said. "Coach teaches methods that aren't used by many other teams, which puts us ahead of a lot of other teams. Most teams don't even know, or have ever seen, the passing techniques that we have developed and applied to our game."

Even though the rugby team opened the season with a win, Cain said she would like to see the momentum continue. The rugby team currently has a winning streak of 17 games.

"We want to go undefeated again and we want to continue with our streak of consecutive wins," Cain said. "We would also like to put up as many shutouts as possible this season."

Neil Schneider can be reached at 581-7944 or at jnschneider@eiu.edu.

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