Although the main goal for the Beantown tournament was team bonding and experience, the Penn State women's rugby team decided that was not enough.

Coming in second overall at the largest collegiate women's rugby tournament in the country, the team was satisfied with its opening performance in Boston this past weekend.

Throughout the tournament, the team participated in four official tournament games and three pick-up games, winning all of them except for a tie with Navy's C side and the final against Army's A side. Penn State lost in the final play with an Army interception, 5-0.

The team finished the tournament 6-1-1.

"It was a very good weekend," coach Pete Steinburg said. "We played really well against [Army] but we struggled in the scrums and line-out. Navy only lost two players from last year and we had almost a whole new scrum."

Within the three pick-up games, the rookies went up against Navy and came out with a 5-5 tie. Some of the veterans decided to play in the rookie game to help the newcomers become familiar with the game. The rookies proved to be fearless and aggressive throughout the whole weekend, both on and off the field, captain Kristen Synder said.

"We went into this tournament to watch and learn from the veterans," rookie Joelle Lavin said. "Before my first game, I was definitely nervous, but once we started playing it was fine. The returning players were helpful all weekend, especially during the rookie game. They showed us where to stand and what to do. It was great."

After the first half of the tournament, the team focused on team bonding on Saturday night. Each teammate interviewed another and then introduced each other to the group.

"We asked each other names, majors, year, and what our first real Penn State rugby moment was," Synder said. "Some of them were funny and some were sentimental. Everyone seemed to have a different view what her first moment was. The rookies really got to see who we are and what we stand for."

Although a silver medal performance did not get the team down, Steinburg is looking to help get the team where it needs to be. Since many key players graduated, Steinburg is hoping some of the rookies can begin to fill the gaps while the veterans improve.

"We will be different than last year, but we could be better," Steinburg said. "Liz Manotti and Jackie DiFrancisco are two freshmen that stepped up and played against Army. We have a lot of work to do, but there is so much potential."

This week the team is preparing for its first home league game against West Chester on Sunday. Snyder is looking for her team to focus on figuring out what kind of offensive line it wants to use and to keep consistency in scrums and line-outs.

The Beantown tournament gave the team a good idea about what it needs to work on from here.

"We have to pay attention to the little things like keeping the ball alive and reading the defense," Snyder said. "Every year gets harder because the competition gets better. We can't just walk into the playoffs anymore but we're confident that if we do, we'll have the caliber to compete at that level. Time will tell."