On an unexpectedly blustery, sunny day, the Penn State women's rugby team proved that its future is looking bright.

After a successful experience at Beantown last weekend, the Lady Ruggers, a club team, opened up their league season with a win against West Chester's varsity team yesterday on East Campus fields.

After dominating the first half with a 22-0 lead, the Ruggers held off the Golden Rams and came out with a final score of 34-8.

"We didn't play a clean game," Penn State head coach Pete Steinburg said. "We lacked on consistency and didn't execute. Since we have a quick team, we rely on our speed, which means we attack wide instead of getting our tight game going. I think we took too many risks."

The Ruggers kept the ball in Ram territory a majority of the first half and made quick, crisp passes that surprised the defense.

Kate Daley scored twice, including the first score off and a pick and go of a scrum early in the half. The early lead gave Diana Klein a boost of confidence to score minutes later, after she received a pass from Allison Worman and sped past three defenders.

"The West Chester defense was all about physical roughness," Klein said. "We had to mentally prepare ourselves for some big hitters because it is a very physical team."

During the second half, the Rams controlled the ball and resided in Penn State's territory causing the Ruggers to become less comfortable than they were in the first half.

As the Rams put more pressure on Penn State, the Ruggers became more physical, forcing them to make tackles more frequently. This allowed more players to run the ball. During a stolen lineout, Karley McVerry ran 20 meters and passed to Worman who then ran 40 meters to score.

"We have faith that we're going to do well," Klein said. "We have a lot of young players to work in and we have to work to make some adjustments. We know we still have a long way to go."