It’s nice to be 2-0, and Sacred Heart is exactly that, but let’s not get carried away.
The Pioneers, having beaten Army 31-7 and Brown 22-8 this past weekend, have to be thought of as a major player in NIRA DI. But Head Coach Michelle Reed also cautions everyone to keep it in perspective.
“It’s a huge positive for us, and going through the rest of the season we know we can play at that standard,” Reed told GRR. “But we just want to stay focused on the next game and not get too far ahead of ourselves.”
At the same time, they do have the right to look back at the weekend and coming back from a deficit of 8-5 in the second half to beat Brown.
“One of the biggest things in the game was how we were able to build even more trust in our team,” said Reed. “To be able to come back late in the game and continue to put scores on and not give up, that was important.”
One of the players told Reed that the feeling among the team was a resounding “No! We don’t like this on our field.”
So what has fueled this step forward by the Pioneers? Well, first off, it’s not a massive surprise, because Sacred Heart tied Brown last year and ended up 2-4-1 in 15-a-side rugby, followed by a pretty nice 7s season in which they won their own Shark Attack 7s and going 13-8. Add to that an excellent recruiting year that included highly-touted sisters Olivia and Reece Woods and outside center Reese Torticill and you certainly have some expectation of improvement for this season.
With lock Ashley Torres-Brown coming into her own and Alyssa Cunningham an elusive, skilled playmaker at fullback, the Pioneers also had some experience combined with ability.
