Crawford 5, Oregon 17

Stanford Women's Rugby played their first Crawford Side game on Sunday, November 8^th, against University of Oregon. It was a very exciting day because it was the first time playing a full rugby game for many of the rookies. With only a handful of returners on the field to guide them, the rookies did an amazing job of diving into their first full game experience. For the first ten minutes, Stanford put strong pressure on Oregon, but as Stanford's organization began to falter, Oregon was able to make several line-breaks, and led the score 17-0 at halftime. The Stanford women began the second half determined to make life considerably harder for their opponents. Although they spent most of the second half in their own half of the field, Stanford continued to work hard and pressure Oregon, refusing to allow them to score another try. Stanford struggled significantly with maintaining possession of the ball, and therefore spent most of the second half of the game playing defense. But in the last few minutes of the game, Stanford was able to bring the ball all the way up the field, and in a strong, determined push led by Janae Grijalva right over the try line, scored a try of their own in the last seconds of the game. Although Stanford lost the game 17-5, it was a highly valuable learning experience and a very fun first Crawford game of the year. Stanford would like to give a huge thank you to the University of Oregon team for coming all the way down here to play!

Stanford 17, Davis Double Deckers 43

Friday night provided Stanford Women's Rugby a chance to play under the lights of Steuber Rugby stadium against the Davis Double Deckers women's club team. The 8:00 PM game provided both the returners with their first 15's game of the season, and for the rookies their first ever 15's game. Both sides came out strong, with the Cardinal playing a tenacious 38 minutes of defense in the first half, allowing only 15 points. The aggressive and fast-paced game featured three tries by senior Jessica Watkins. Although the game did not end in the favor of the Cardinal, who lost 17-43, the game provided a rich learning experience for all players, who will continue to improve as the season progresses. The game against DDD was a fantastic game to compete in under the Friday night lights.