The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Ladies Panther Rugby Club faced the University of Wisconsin Badgers this past weekend to defend their current Tier 1 Dominance.

Tier 1 is the top component of three tiers in rugby football club rankings, and in simpler terms can be compared to the top of the food chain. Further establishing the LPRFC as a force to be reckoned with is an undefeated 4-0 league record that recently went unscathed against Madison, 31-7.

It was an early match that kicked off at 9:30 Saturday morning. With this brisk morning came the forward-moving Panther offense that hammered a stubborn Badger defense until Lindsey Fickau finally broke through and scored the Panther's first try. A try, worth five points, is one of two scoring methods in the game of rugby and is achieved by touching the ball on the ground of an opponent's in-goal. Another device used for scoring is a conversion (kicking the rugby ball through the uprights) this is worth two points, and is typically performed corresponding to the location of the successful try. Corresponding to Fickau's try was a successful conversion by Tina Gill.

The second half began with a successful Badger try and conversion. At first glance the Badger team appeared to be making up some ground by evening the score. However, the Panthers would answer back, driving down field to a successful try by Kati McCormick and a conversion compliments of Tina Gill. The Panthers would continue their scoring rampage with back-to-back successful tries by Caila Ney, and Gill would go 1-for-2 in conversion attempts. With the gap between the scores growing larger, the Badgers continued to brave the Panther offense and their forward momentum until succumbing to the Panthers and their last successful try by Julia Thorne. Other honorable mentions go out to Megan Schultz and Kendra Johnson for their healthy contributions on offense and defense.

The Panther victory marks another notch for the LPRFC, but more importantly it continues to line the Panthers up as serious bidders for a spot at the Division 1 table. Provided our Panthers' keep on keepin' on, we could be in for an exciting postseason with this hungry young team.

If you're interested in checking out these talented young ladies, they will be playing at home in two weeks at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex. For team details, scheduling, player bios, stats and more, please visit their website at www.uwm.edu/StudentOrg/lprfc. The Lady Panthers are also looking for new recruits and you can find the information on their website.

If you want to be really cool you could just show up [appositive omitted] and support the Panthers as they continue to throw down on claiming other people's pride. You won't be let down.