The women’s rugby team was dealt a devastating two-fold blow Saturday at Kansas.

If making the long drive only to lose 5-0 in overtime wasn’t bad enough, the Panthers received word they will be without Mary Archer for the remainder of the season. Archer, one of the team’s most important players, was originally diaganosed as being day-to-day with a pain in her back. Now that diagnosis has been changed to a bilateral stress fracture, Archer said.

She will be without physical activity for at least three months and was red-shirted to save a year of eligibility.

“The game on Saturday was a hard fought defensive battle,” Erin Volez said. “It was 100 minutes of tough rugby.”

The injury-plagued Panthers (1-1) let their guard down for one minute and allowed Kansas to score on a 40-yard run in the first minutes of the extra period.

“Everyone was hurting and we just didn’t have it,” Volez said.

“We brought 22 girls and two of them got hurt,” Archer said. “That meant we only had two available subs and it seems we are running out of people.”

The women had a chance to score in regulation but missed a kick and then dropped a ball in the end zone.

“We had our chances but we couldn’t get it done,” Volez said. “The girls from Kansas were not that good, but they were rough and scrappy. We just didn’t play up to our potential.”

The team did have one bright spot over this past weekend, sitting down for a meal at a teammate’s home.

“Eating dinner at Katie Massen’s house was the best part of the weekend,” Archer said. “The whole team felt that way.”

Volez will find out this week if she will be able to play as she is still recovering from an illness and the team as a whole is still battling minor injuries.

During the game certain players stepped up for the Panthers as they are without the two best players – Archer and Volez.

“Ashley Jones and Katie Taake played very good and Becky Carleson really helped to keep the focus on the game,” Archer said.

Volez said it will be a tough week of practice as the team prepare for a home game Saturday against the University of Illinois.