Eastern’s women’s rugby team let yet another victory slip through its grasps Friday, dropping a 21-12 game at Vanderbilt.

Playing under lights for the first time combined with the bewilderment of wind-driven rain frustrated the Panthers as they dropped their third straight game of the season.

The Panthers (1-3) are still hampered by injuries and only were able to bring 16 players, leaving themselves with just one substitute. But things got worse.

Karissa Berg went down with what could turn out to be a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her knee, leaving Eastern with no substitutes for the remainder of the game.

“The inclement weather could have been a factor, but that’s no excuse,” head coach Frank Graziano said.

“They played in the rain too.

“We are a ball-control team, but we just couldn’t hold on to the ball,” Graziano said. “We had a lot of opportunities, but we failed.”

The Panthers took control of the game with scores by Kate Taake and Ashley Jones in the opening minutes of the first half, but were unable to muster up any more points as the women from Vanderbilt shut them down and out for the rest of the game. The Commodores scored an unanswered 21 points to put the game out of reach for Eastern.

In an uncharacteristic Monday practice, Graziano expressed his displeasure for losing.

Lines such as “I’m tired of losing,” “sour taste in my mouth,” and “tired of eating crow” were rattled throughout Graziano’s pre-practice speech.

Graziano told the team it approached the game with too much complacency.

“If you’re not Michael Jordan, there is always going to be someone better than you,” he said.

He also said the team was not playing up to its potential during game time and was completely opposite of the ways team conducts itself during practice.

“We are practicing a lot better than we play,” Graziano said. “We are leaving it on the practice field.”

As for the talent level of their opponents, Graziano had more comments that radiated displeasure.

“It’s one thing to get beat by a good team, but not these teams,” Graziano said.

“Nobody likes to lose, but a coach can tolerate losing to a better team.”