Women’s rugby welcome Salt Lake club team
With its spring season nearly three months old, the Utah State University women’s rugby club will have its first chance to play a home match since Feb. 16 as the Aggies host a Salt Lake City club team Saturday at noon on the HPER Field.
Not only will Saturday’s match give the Aggies a chance to play on their own field, it will give them an opportunity to play a team with several former Aggies on it, team captain Lauren Drietzler said.
“We like playing Salt Lake because a lot of Utah State graduates are playing for them,” she said. “It’s always nice to play against USU alumni.”
Playing a team with several players who are students at the University of Utah, both Drietzler and inside center Becca Ogden said the Aggies need to exploit the bigger Salt Lake team with their team speed if they want to emerge victorious.
“They have a lot of size on us up front, but we are a lot faster than them and are more fit,” Ogden said.
Drietzler said, “We have a lot of speed on our team and players with a lot of experience.”
However, experienced players is something Salt Lake has as well, Drietzler said, therefore she said she expects a free-flowing match when the two teams take the field.
“It’s so much easier to work with a base of people who have experience and are familiar with the rules of the game,” she said. “They [the experienced players] can then in turn help the new players [progress].”
In addition to using their team speed and trying to wear down SLC physically, Ogden said it’s imperative the Aggies play solid team defense. USU is at its best offensively when it comes out fired up on the defense end, she said.
“Playing good team defense usually turns into good offense,” she said.
The Aggies will return to action Saturday, April 27, when they host Weber State University at noon on the HPER Field.