Life University Athletics

ELLENSBURG, Wash. --- After falling behind early on the road at Central Washington, the Life University women's rugby team raced back to claim a 19-15 victory Saturday afternoon.

Brooklyn Vaifanua collected a Life u chip kick and raced past the Wildcats to tap down the first try of the game in the sixth minute to see Life U take an early 7-0 lead after the conversion. Central Washington controlled the rest of the first half, posting two scores but missing on both conversions to take a 10-7 lead into the halftime break.

Momentum stayed on the Wildcats side to start the second half, Central Washington extending the lead to 15-7 in the 51st minute. The Running Eagles made changes in the final 30 minutes, taking advantage of opportunities that Central Washington presented. In the 57th minute, a Life U maul turned into points when Elizabeth Gijon tapped down a try to cut the deficit to 15-12. With right at 10 minutes to play, Amaya Moala caught a ball near the goal line and surged forward to give the go-ahead points, 17-15. Matilda Kocaj recorded her second conversion of the day to push the game to a 19-15 lead for the Running Eagles. Life U kept Central Washington ffrfom being able to threaten to score again, winning 19-15.

Head coach Ryszard Chadwick spoke on what was a hard fought game, "This was a highly competitive match with both sides giving it everything. CW dominated the set piece in the 1st half and our discipline allowed them to get into the game." He finished talking about how the team fought back to take the victory, "The bench was a real game changer and combined with a change of tactics in the last 30min we were able to work our way back into the game and eventually end up wining."

The women's rugby team finishes the regular season next weekend with a home contest against Lindenwood Saturday at 6 PM that will be streamed by FloRugby.