Issue date: 11/3/09 Section: Sports

Eastern junior flanker Tiffany Kennedy runs the ball down the field while an opponent tries to take her down during the rugby team's game against the University of Illinois Oct. 24 at Lakeside Field. The Panthers beat Southern Illinois-Carbondale 103-0 Saturday in Carbondale.(Karolina Strack/The Daily Eastern News)

Seniors Stephanie Militello and Crystal Jones, and sophomore Coartney McKinney were all out with injuries or sickness for the Eastern rugby team Saturday.

So, the Panthers needed even leadership from freshman Lauren Doyle and other freshmen. And the Panthers got it.

Doyle ran in a career-high seven trys and converted 7-of-11 two-point conversion kicks as the Panthers routed the Southern Illinois-Carbondale club team 103-0 Saturday in Carbondale.

Doyle's first three trys helped the Panthers jump out to a 17-0 lead with 34:90 left in the first half.

Eastern head coach Frank Graziano said Doyle's soccer background helped her with the conversion.

The 103 points were a season high and an improvement as the Panthers (9-0) struggled a week with finishing in the final 25 yards against Illinois.

"You can't expect them to play like this is in game one, two, three and four," Graziano said. "Each week the game starts to make more sense for them."

The 103 points are the most number of points since a 100-0 rout of Purdue on Oct. 23, 2008.

Last season the Panthers had three games where they finished with 100 points or more.

The shutout was Eastern's second straight and fifth overall this season.

Red-shirt sophomore scrumhalf Narissa Ramirez led the Panthers with five assists.

The Panthers finished with 15 assists on 19 trys.

Graziano said Ramirez and sophomore Ashley Aardsma split time at scrumhalf and both played well.

Freshman Kayla Heal added four trys, while senior wing Ashley Jenkins, freshman Mandie Hurd and Ramirez added two trys apiece.

Graziano said Heal played well and her one-on-one time with Graziano helped. He also said her runs of more than 50 yards helped the team Saturday.

Jenkins finished 2-of-9 on two-point conversion kicks. Senior Chase Cain and red-shirt junior Tiffany Kennedy led the team with four tackles apiece.

"We handled the ball better than we thought we were going to," Graziano said. "I think we've been working on our playmaking and decision-making drills. It just takes time for the players to understand how that works."

After a 17-0 quick start, the Panthers established a 65-0 halftime lead.

The Panthers return to action Saturday against Michigan State at noon at Lakeside Rugby Field.

This day will be Senior Day for Eastern as it tries for its second straight undefeated season.

The Panthers have won 25 games in a row.

The team's seniors will be honored before the start of the game as Jenkins, Jones, Militello and Cain will all be awarded for their accomplishments.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or kjmurphy@eiu.edu.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools

The Daily Eastern News encourages on-topic, civil discussion on its articles posted online. It is our policy not to screen comments before they are posted or edit them after they are posted. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are off-topic, malicious, libelous or include excessive foul language. The DEN also reserves the right to turn off all comments on any story it deems necessary.

Comments violating copyright law will also be removed.

Users who repeatedly violate this policy will be banned from commenting.

If you have any questions on our comment policy or wish to report a comment that you feel violates these standards, please e-mail a link to the article to our Online Editor at DENNews.com@gmail.com.