For the newly forming varsity teams around the country, there’s something special about playing Eastern Illinois University, the first varsity women’s program in U.S. history. Last Saturday, Life University welcomed EIU to Marietta, Ga., and then celebrated a 61-0 win over the visitors.

The Running Eagles were put to the test early on, as EIU retained possession inside Life’s 22 meter. But patience paid off, and a turnover allowed some relief. Shortly afterward, Texas recruit Jessica Regalado slipped through a seam off a lineout and crashed over the line for the 5-0 lead.

Christina Swift, a junior transfer student, followed with the first of her two tries, and finisher extraordinaire Deshel Ferguson streaked down the touchline for a try after 15 minutes. There the score stood until the final minutes of the half, when Nicole Strasko dotted down. Flyhalf Kimberly Semiglia’s conversion gave the hosts a 22-0 lead.

"The backs are improving as a unit,” Chou told LifeRunningEagles.com. “They had some good line breaks, and we'll look to support those breaks a bit better this week. Kimberly Semiglia is getting comfortable in her role at flyhalf, and she is being complemented by centers Cynthia Kelly and Karen Faget, who are moving the ball out to our speed on the wings. The forwards were very physical in contact, forcing some well timed turnovers. Samantha Elmore, Rachel Dorminy and Nicole Strasko were especially effective today in contact."

Life nearly doubled its point tally in the second half. Strasko banked try number two, while Faget, Kelly, Gabi Bergamin, Madison Ohmann and Samantha Elmore followed with five-pointers. Semiglia and Ohmann added a conversion apiece for the 61-0 rout.

“Overall, I'm just happy that we're starting to have team chemistry,” Chou said. “Eastern Illinois and their physicality and use of kicks to space really challenged us, highlighting some areas in which we need to do more work.”

The game marked the first in the home-and-away series. Now that both sides have a good idea about to expect from each other, Chou will be mixing up the lineup and experimenting with new combinations.

Life is currently 5-1 in the non-matrix season, with its lone loss (34-19) coming at the hands of Quinnipiac on August 30, and has four games remaining this year.

“I'm happy with our continued development, and we're really looking forward to our match November 15 at home against UNC, the perennial powerhouse in the South,” Chou said.

Prior to the fall, Chou indicated that this friendly season would help determine whether Life was ready for a DI season in the South Independent conference. A win against North Carolina – which dropped a big game to East Carolina last weekend – would go a long way in answering that question more definitively.