If there were any doubts in the mind of Eastern head coach Frank Graziano about his women’s rugby team, his Panthers put them to rest Saturday with an 82-0 trouncing of Wisconsin.

A pair of freshmen wings immediately made their presence felt in the Eastern roster. Molly Clutter and Sam Manto each scored 3 trys in the Panthers’ first meeting with the Badgers.

“Sam and Molly are both very fast and I think we have them on the right place on the field,” Graziano said of his freshmen who will also run track for Eastern.

Manto was the only freshman in the Panthers’ starting lineup that was full of seniors but she felt right at home with them.

“I was intimidated at first but I was on in position well and there wasn’t anyone yelling at me,” Manto said. “They all believed in me and really helped me.”

After several Panthers had to leave the game because of injuries, Clutter and Manto had even more pressure put on their shoulders in their first rugby match.

“We were short on backs so I was kind of freakin’ out,” Manto said.

One of the worst injuries of the day for the Panthers was the loss of senior center Stephanie Rasmusen.

“We had one major casualty,” Graziano said, “but we don’t want to make any assumptions (about how long she will be out).”

Although the Panthers scored early and often, Graziano was not happy with how Eastern started the match.

“We scored early because we were just more athletic than them,” Graziano said. “We had a lot of nervous energy we had to get out.

“Once the girls got tired, they played better because then they were letting the ball do the work.”

And despite the lopsided victory, Graziano knows there is still room for improvement.

“Fitness wise we’re not where we need to be,” Graziano said. “(Next week’s opponent) Marquette is a much more seasoned team and we need to be ready. There’s no substitution for game fitness and finding the rhythm of the game.”