The Stanford Women’s Crawford Team met up with Santa Clara for their first official game of the season on Saturday, November 10. Santa Clara dominated from the very beginning, smashing the ball through up the inside channels. While Stanford fought back hard, their inexperienced defensive line was unable to stop Santa Clara’s repeated drives. Stanford’s one break came when a Junior veteran Lace Cheung threw a pass to the right wing, allowing sophomore rookie Aliy Bossert to run one in for her first career try. This game was a learning experience for the Stanford rookies, who kept playing hard throughout the game despite Santa Clara’s dominance.

On Sunday, November 4, the Stanford Women’s Rugby team competed in the final game of their Arizona Road Trip, taking on the Scottsdale Women’s Club Team. The Cardinal was primed and ready for the challenge. With a great attack in the scrum, the Scottsdale women were able score the first points of the match. Stanford responded with a penalty kick, scored by senior Melissa Smit. Smit later scored again with a try for Stanford. Following Smit’s try, sophomore Jessica Watkins showed her skills, speed, and elusiveness, as she ran 30 meters to score another try for Stanford.

Closing in on two minutes remaining in the game, the Scottsdale Women’s Team was sitting on a 21-17 lead. This signaled “Crunch Time” for the Stanford Women. With 50 meters to the Scottsdale try line, senior Flyhalf Jossy Tseng received the ball. After drifting right, she pitched the ball outside to Watkins, who ran it in to score the game-winning try. Smit converted the kick, and the Stanford Women won the game, 24-21. Senior Crista Mendoza was honored as the Cardinal’s Player of the Game. In addition to outstanding play on both sides of the ball, Mendoza had a crucial steal near the opposing try line, which lead to a Cardinal score.

In the opening game of their Arizona trip, the Stanford Women took on the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Sun Devils put up a tough first half and were impressive with their speed on the wings. However, Stanford also showed considerable speed when Ramine Cromartie was able to break several tackles and score a try in order to put the first points on the board for Stanford. Later in the game, Jossy Tseng was able to capitalize on the opponents’ confusion following a penalty and, amid cries of “HEY!” from the other team, and “What’s going on?” from the Stanford rookies, ran the ball into the try area without opposition.

With the game tied up, freshman inside center, Jennifer Cooperrider, demonstrated her ability to shake off defenders as she zig-zagged her way upfield for her first career try. Ono Nseyo scored two tries nearing the end of the game, the second of which secured the win for Stanford. Ono received a pass from flyhalf Emily Wyatt and raced down the field in an impressive run past the Arizona State defense. Tseng also converted four out of the five tries with kicks, contributing to the Stanford win.