It wasn’t the lopsided score that we’ve come to expect, but it was a win nonetheless. The Quinnipiac women’s rugby team continued their undefeated season by defeating the Westchester University Golden Rams on Saturday. The Bobcats won by a score 32-12 in their closest conference game of the season.
The Bobcats got on the board early when Natalie Kosko scored a try within the first five minutes. However, the Golden Rams answered back and tied the game at 5. They continued to play tough and held the bobcats to just 15 points in the first half. Golden Rams scoring leader Cheryl Johnson scored early in the second half to close the Quinnipiac (8-0, 6-0 Tri-State Conference) lead to just three points after a successful conversion.The Bobcats then took over, scoring three unanswered tries.
Kosko continued her phenomenal freshman season scoring three tries on the day to follow up her four try performance a week ago against Hofstra. Her third try came late in the second half and put the game away for the Bobcats.
“I was just so pumped through the entire thing having such supporting teammates,” Kosko said. “And at the end everybody was just like Natalie come on we can do this and at the end we just played with our hearts.”
Sophomore Shannon Durkin also contributed two tries on the day and junior Nora Kate O’Brien scored her first of the season. While the Golden Rams ended the Bobcats’ streak of four straight shutouts, the team still played excellent defense, holding Westchester (2-1-1) to just 12 points.
On the season, the Bobcats have a point differential of 469. However, Quinnipiac head coach Becky Carlson was satisfied with the win and was very pleased with what she saw.
“I’ve learned that when they do get scored upon they keep their composure,” she said. “It’s something that hasn’t been very prevalent this season we had 12 points scored against us going into this game so it wasn’t something they expected but we mentally prepared them for that.”
The Bobcats will look to continue their undefeated season on Oct. 28 when they travel to SUNY Albany to take on the Great Danes.