In the culmination of their 2008-2009 season, La Salle Women's Rugby rebounded from a 36-5 loss to Washington State by beating Arizona State 41-17 in Sunday's consolation game. The win ensures that La Salle will finish the year ranked no lower than 12th in the nation.

The Explorers continued to be plagued by first day jitters in their 36-5 loss to Washington State. Washington did well challenging the Explorers in the mid field and took advantage of numerous missed or sloppy tackles. La Salle was their own worst enemy while on offense, committing numerous unforced errors and never settling into their own game game plan. Washington's second half lead grew, from a 15-5 half time lead, in no small part because La Salle was effected by the sweltering heat. Long term injuries to Kristina Disanto and Jill Garcia were compounded by recent injuries to Brittany McKenna, Theresa Enwerej and Nicole Henriquez limited the number of available players. 

 

La Salle tended their wounds on Saturday night, ice bathing and enjoying team dinner with teammates and family members that came to support the team. Coach Kristin Aliberto opted to not have a team meeting and instead to meet with the seniors to discuss the following day. Aliberto felt like the meeting was a key part to Sunday's success, speaking of the meeting she had this to say, "I asked them what single thing they wanted to change to make sure tomorrow was fun, what we could change to make their last game  memorable. They told me they were tired of playing afraid that they wanted to play without fear, to believe the way Ship (Shippensburg) and U Del (Delaware) believed in themselves."

 

True to their word, La Salle, roared back on Sunday, beating Arizona State 41-17. La Salle set the tone from the first minute by scoring three unanswered tries. The Explorers found their offensive game plan and for most of the game would effectivly control the pace and the tempo of the game. The forwards continued to be impressive in the set piece, especially the scrums, where they had their way with opponents all weekend long. Much improved from Saturday was LSWR's defense, which was both better organized and significantly better at the tackle. Junior Maria Muscara shrugged off her own defensive concerns and set the tempo and pace of the defense before leaving the game with a sprained knee.

 

While the game was the last for the seniors, it witnessed the accession of the next group of on the field leaders for the Explorers. Muscara's strong weekend was the tip of the iceberg, as 2009-2010 captains Jessica Wallance and Nicole Muraglia, joined her in leading the team through heat and injuries.

 

The win on Sunday assures that Explorers end the 2008-2009 season ranked no lower than 12th in the nation. They could end as high as 9th when final rankings are completed.