The Oberlin women’s rugby team played with heart and Rhino passion to earn second place in the annual Mudpig Invitational Tournament last Saturday at Wittenberg University.

The Rhinoruggers won their first two games against Xavier and Ohio Northern with scores of 12-7 and 29-0 respectively, before going down in an extremely hard fought final against Wittenberg 0-12.

Oberlin was forced to defend hard for the opening 20 minutes of their first game as a young Xavier team came out with a much stronger attack than Oberlin had expected from them coming into the tournament. Towards the end of the half, though, senior flyhalf Magdalen Dale turned the play around as she executed a quick 22 drop in to precision. Dale fielded her own kick to sprint 60 yards up field, where she drew her first defender, and offloaded to sophomore winger Diana Frame – who received the ball on a perfectly timed run and drove through for the try and the first five points of the game.

With points in their favor, the Rhinos took control of the game, forcing infringements by Xavier that resulted in a number of penalties in Oberlin’s advantage. On one such penalty, sophomore lock Gina “Pokey” Farinaccio crashed and drove for 20 yards, breaking through the line to be desperately robbed of her first try by the committed Xavier defense. Farinaccio’s efforts awarded Oberlin with a five-meter scrum and set up senior scrum half and team captain, April Gentile-Miserandino, for one of her ever-frequent breaks around the fringes of the scrum for the second and last Oberlin score of the game.

With a runaway try late in the second half, Xavier finished the scoring and the game at 12-7.

In game two, the Rhinos convincingly beat Ohio Northern from the very first whistle, shutting them out for the second time this season. An exciting first try for sophomore flanker Marisol LeBron opened the Rhino scoring. LeBron, who has been elevating her performance in every game this season, drove hard through multiple tackles to sneak the ball over the line. Two break-away tries by both Dale and senior prop Julia Daher put the halftime score at 17-0. In the second half, Frame’s intensity produced a little magic as she busted over the line for two more tries to finish off the scoring at 29-0.

After playing their first two games on the trot, the Rhinos had a two-hour break before the final against tournament hosts Wittenberg. The stage was set and the energy on the field seemed electric as leaves danced and whipped across the pitch.

Wittenberg came out strong and did all their scoring in the opening 10 minutes with two tries and a 12-0 lead. The Rhinos received no favors from the referee as he continued to make questionable calls against Oberlin. Undeterred, Oberlin played every minute as if it were the last, forced at times to desperate levels of defense as they successfully held out continued attacks by the organized Wittenberg attack.

The Rhinos often came close to getting on the scoreboard, and although they were able to retain possession through three or more phases, they were never able to get that extra break for the try.

Despite the physical exhaustion of playing three hard games in one day, the Rhinos gave their all for every minute, in terms of commitment and heart. Knowing the level of play the team has reached, Dale’s words at the end of the game resounded: “Don’t get down about this loss because this is the best game I have seen us play.”

The tournament “HOG” (Hit of the game) award was shared by Dale and sophomore eight-man Morgan Evans for their never-say-die approach to tackling. At times, they threw their bodies at Wittenberg players in Bobby Boucher-like fashion.

The tournament hustler award was shared by captain-courageous Gentile-Miserandino, for her breaks around the scrum and constant defensive pressure on the opposing scrumhalves, effectively thwarting their backline attacks from the get-go, and Frame for managing three tries in two games and for exhausting the defense of every opposing team fearlessly and repeatedly.

This weekend, the Rhinos travel back to Wittenberg to take them on in the Ohio Division III semi-finals. The Rhinos are oozing confidence and as super scrummie Farrinaccio puts it, “We know we can beat this team. We are going to mix up our attack and take it hard to Wittenberg. Thanks to the Student Union, we have a bus to bring fans along. I just know something special is going to happen.”