The Eastern rugby team finished its season Saturday by beating Purdue and Ball State in Bloomington, Ind., at the Indiana Tournament.

In the opening game against the Boilermakers, the Panthers scored in the first minute on senior Anne Le Lannic’s 30-yard run. The Panthers scored twice more in the next five minutes on long runs by junior Mary Archer and freshman Amy Lalko. At halftime, the Panthers led 31-0 and never looked back en route to a 58-0 victory over the Boilers.

With his teams’ 10th consecutive win, head coach Frank Graziano was pleased with the effort against the Big Ten school.

“We’ve played Purdue several times (in the past) and played fairly well against them. This was no different,” Graziano said. “Everybody played well.”

Next up for the Panthers was its first ever meeting against Ball State. The Panthers wasted little time denting the scoreboard against the Cardinals. Le Lannic picked up a muffed opening kickoff and ran into the corner for the first of many scores. Eastern led by 50 at the half and would add 31 more points to finish off the Cardinals 81-0.

Even though the Panthers defeated Purdue and Ball State by a combined score of 139-0, Graziano said his team stayed focused and still played hard.

“We practice hard, and that helps us remain focused,” Graziano said. “We don’t look at the scoreboard, and we always support each other during the games.”

The Panthers ended the year 11-0 and with 10 shutouts. Only on Sept. 7, against Southern Illinois at the SIU Tournament, did the Panthers fail to blank the opposition. Eastern defeated the Salukis 19-12 and took home first place in the tournament.

Throughout the season, Eastern outscored its competition 683-12. The Panthers had 117 tries while only surrendering two. The team had nine straight shutouts to close the season.

With a perfect win/loss record and an amazing point differential, Graziano said this is his strongest rugby team during his four-year tenure as coach of the Panthers.

“So far this is the best,” Graziano said. “I can not praise the team and everyone who has been involved in our program enough. It has been an outstanding season for us.”

Eastern was originally scheduled to play in Ohio against the Dayton Flyers, but the university informed Graziano earlier in the week that they could not field a team.

“Dayton lost a bunch of players so they were unable to play us,” Graziano said. “We were disappointed not to compete against Dayton. They are a good team and their situation is unfortunate. We welcomed the opportunity to compete in the Indiana tournament on such short notice.”