Princeton Rugby Women's Team History:

Under the leadership of Coach Nancy Kechner, the team's victory in EPRUs in 1990 led to a place at ITTs in Virginia in the spring of 1991. In a close game, Princeton finished second to its archrival at the time, Boston College. These two teams were to play a number of hard-fought games in key matches over the next few years. Their performance at Virginia was good enough to win the team an invite to the inaugral Women's Collegiate National Championship, which was held on Memorial Day weekend in Alexandria, VA, along with Club Nationals. Five teams were invited that year: Boston College, Air Force, Michigan, Montana, and Princeton. We were awarded the fifth seed and drawn to play Air Force in the first match of round robin play. In a tough, close game, the Zoomies were able to win out by 6-4, the difference being a conversion after a penalty try was awarded against the Princeton right wing.

Just an hour later, in sweltering hot conditions, Princeton matched up against the University of Michigan, and won with ease. The game was never close and the victory set up a rematch of the ITT final with a semi-final against Boston College, under Ken Daly's expert leadership. These two rivals once again played a close game, but the strain of having played the match against Michigan in mid-afternoon (by losing their first game, Princeton had to play-off against Michigan, whereas Boston College had gone directly into the semi-finals by virtue of a first round victory) eventually began to show and Boston College were able to secure the victory and a place in the final against Air Force.

The tournament ended on a positive note for the Tigers though. The next day, they recovered from the disappointment of the BC game, to post an impressive and decisive victory over Montana to finish third in the tournament.

Nancy Kechner had been able to take Princeton Women's rugby to a new level by getting the team to the national tournament and proving that it could play at such a high level. The team will always be grateful to her for her excellent leadership and for preparing the team for its success in the later 1990s. It was with great sadness that the team learned that work commitments would not allow Nancy to continue coaching the team in the fall of 1992. Alex Curtis, a former coach of the Princeton men's team, was hired as her replacement just in time for league play that fall.

Under Curtis' leadership, the team continued to follow the blueprint established by Kechner of serious and disciplined rugby. After winning EPRUs that fall, the team discovered just how quickly women's rugby was improving by facing the University of Connnecticut, the eventual National Champions, in the first round of play-offs. The Huskies crushed the Tigers that day and ended any hopes of emulating the 1991 team's national success. However, it did prove to the young Princeton team just how much they would have to do to be able to compete again on the national stage.

Faced with a new determination, the team returned in the fall of 1993 and raised their play to a new level, winning through the EPRU with surprising ease. They had to wait until the spring of 1994 to find out whether they were good enough to compete with the strong teams of NERFU. At the Eastern Championships in April 1994, Princeton defeated Virginia Tech in the first round to advance to the semi-final and a rematch against Connecticut. In what has been described as a breakthrough game, the Tigers were able to avenge their stinging defeat of a year before with a shocking 13-0 victory. Once again, Princeton faced BC in the final and, despite holding a 10-5 lead at one point, finally succumbed 15-10 to just miss out on a trip to Nationals in Oregon.

After coming so close in 1994, the team returned that fall determined to go one step further. After a first round victory over the University of Delaware, the team faced James Madison in the semi-final game of the 1995 Eastern Championships. Once again the game was close but Princeton squeezed through to the final by a 14-7 margin. In the other semi- final, Dartmouth had defeated a tough Amherst College game. The final was one of the most evenly matched and hard-fought games that anyone involved could remember. The two teams refused to give into the other's pressure and the momentum of the game swung from one team to the other with every passing moment. The outcome was in doubt until the final whistle which found Dartmouth attacking and trying to overcome Princeton's 15-10 lead. After the heartbreak of losing 15-10 the previous year, that victory was particularly pleasing.

At the 1995 National Championship, Princeton faced Air Force in the semi-final game. On a hot, sunny day with a fast field, the Tigers jumped to an early lead and never let the Zoomies back in the game, eventually winning 29-5. In the Championship match, the team faced an experienced Penn State squad. The first half was evenly matched, with Princeton scoring on the last play of the half. This shifted the momentum, allowing the Tigers to pull away after two opportunistic tries by All-American scrum-half Kim Henderson, and secure a 20-0 victory and win the club's first ever National Championship.

It was Alex Curtis' third year as head coach. During his first fall season coaching the Princeton Women's Rugby Club, he predicted that in three years he would lead our team to the national championships. Apparently he was right; however, the team proved to do more than just make it to the final four.

Our regular fall season set the year off to an auspicious start, as we ended the season undefeated in the EPRU (Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union). The November EPRU tournament which decided the team who would travel to Eastern regionals in the spring, we defeated Deleware 44-0 in the finals.

In the USA Rugby East tournament in April, the tigers faced some of our biggest competition of the season and kept fans biting their nails to the very end. The tournament consisted of three games with single elimination. Princeton came out on top in the first two matches of the tournament against Delaware and James Madison University. The finals agaist Dartmouth proved to be quite an exciting match with Princeton emerging as victors, 15-10 over Dartmouth. Alex's prophesy had come true: three years after he had become coach, he was leading the team to Nationals.

The National Championships would be played at Princeton giving us the home field advantage. Among the teams that traveled to the final four were Stanford from the West, Penn State from the Midwest and AirforceAcadamy, the defending champions, from the Rocky Mountains. Princeton met Airforce in the first match and came out on top with a 29-5 win. Excitement mounted as theTigers prepared for the final 80 minutes of the season, from which we emerged national champions with a 20-0 win over Penn State. When the All American team was names, seven from the Princeton squad. They were:

Captain Julia Worceter '95 (outside center), Erin Kennedy '96 (fly half), Kristine Leporati '96 (winger), Megan Sarnecki '97 (second row), Tracy Dubovik '97 (prop), Caroline Gibson '98 (winger), and Kimberly Henderson '95 (scrum half), who was named MVP Back of the tournament.

All told, in the 1994-95 year, we came out with a record of 21-0 with a total of 845 points for and 41 points against us. We looked forward to another year of excellence on the pitch!

It was Alex Curtis' third year as head coach. During his first fall season coaching the Princeton Women's Rugby Club, he predicted that in three years he would lead our team to the national championships. Apparently he was right; however, the team proved to do more than just make it to the final four.

Our regular fall season set the year off to an auspicious start, as we ended the season undefeated in the EPRU (Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union). The November EPRU tournament which decided the team who would travel to Eastern regionals in the spring, we defeated Deleware 44-0 in the finals.

In the USA Rugby East tournament in April, the tigers faced some of our biggest competition of the season and kept fans biting their nails to the very end. The tournament consisted of three games with single elimination. Princeton came out on top in the first two matches of the tournament against Delaware and James Madison University. The finals agaist Dartmouth proved to be quite an exciting match with Princeton emerging as victors, 15-10 over Dartmouth. Alex's prophesy had come true: three years after he had become coach, he was leading the team to Nationals.

The National Championships would be played at Princeton giving us the home field advantage. Among the teams that traveled to the final four were Stanford from the West, Penn State from the Midwest and AirforceAcadamy, the defending champions, from the Rocky Mountains. Princeton met Airforce in the first match and came out on top with a 29-5 win. Excitement mounted as theTigers prepared for the final 80 minutes of the season, from which we emerged national champions with a 20-0 win over Penn State. When the All American team was names, seven from the Princeton squad. They were:

Captain Julia Worceter '95 (outside center), Erin Kennedy '96 (fly half), Kristine Leporati '96 (winger), Megan Sarnecki '97 (second row), Tracy Dubovik '97 (prop), Caroline Gibson '98 (winger), and Kimberly Henderson '95 (scrum half), who was named MVP Back of the tournament.

All told, in the 1994-95 year, we came out with a record of 21-0 with a total of 845 points for and 41 points against us. We looked forward to another year of excellence on the pitch!