Heartbreak

Here's what happened this weekend. It's still too difficult to really talk about, so I'll let you read about it. The guy who wrote this article is the main writer for rugby in the US:

Heartbkreak for Brave BYU Women

Friday Apr 4, 2008 in Women Colleges
April 4, 2008, Stanford, Calif. - The game everyone said should have been played later in the season was played Friday afternoon, as Pacific Coast #1 women's college seed Stanford edged #8 seed BYU 26-17. BYU was seeded #8 because this was the first time that a Utah school had been in the playoffs in some years. But BYU has been very, very strong for some years and few felt the seeding made any sense. With the vaunted Stanford team pushed to the limit - down 17-12 with 20 minutes to go - it was clear the seedings were off.

Stanford struggled mightily to really get going, as center Brett Baldry and flanker Kirsten Siebach caused problems for the Cardinal defense. Tries from flanker Emmelie Shaner and wing Robyn Lindley helped pace the Women's Cougar Rugby (their official name) team to a 17-12 lead. But in the closing minutes Stanford hit another gear. Led by the play of Diana Peng at hooker and No. 8 Erin Kobashigawa, Stanford did what they had to do. "I was delighted with the game," said Stanford Coach Jonathan Griffin. "BYU are very. very good. They are without question the best college team we've played in the last two years bar Penn State. It was the game we needed, the game we wanted, to play a final four level team so early put us into the playoffs in a very sound mind."

Stung by the early ouster, BYU coach Tom Waqa still was pleased with how his team did. "It was more like a collegiate final," said Waqa, who also singled out referee Paul Bretz for having an outstanding game. "Our girls gave their all. I couldn't be more proud of them." Stanford now takes on UC Davis, 43-5 winners over Reno, for the top seed out of the Pacific Coast. Cal defeated Oregon 34-0 and will play Chico (forfeit over no-shows Oregon State) for the 3rd and 4th seeds.

Did PCRFU get it wrong? In the men's playoff bracket, a no-show from Washington State meant the highest seed, St. Mary's, got the bye. In the women's bracket, this wasn't the case. Stanford still had to play BYU, while Chico State, with no game to play, is automatically in the playoffs. This should not have happened. What should have happened would be to bump all the seeds up:

Today's games should have been:
Stanford bye
UC Davis v. BYU
Chico v. Nevada Reno
Cal v. Oregon

Then we all would have seen how good BYU is.
- Alex Goff

Am I angry? Yes. Heartbroken? That's an understatement. I have never wanted anything so much in my entire life. But I have to say, I am so proud for our team and for the way we played this past weekend. Eventhough we lost, we dominated that game minus 2 long runs made by Stanford. We have overcome incredible obstacles like lacking of funding, recognition, injuries, and weather to get to where we are. My team is an amazing group of people and I can't even express what a privilege it is to be a part of. It will certainly be a rough couple of weeks as we try and cope with the loss and end of our season. But I have to believe that it will only make us better and the thos teams that come after us will benefit from the way we represented ourselves this past weekend. Hopefully now we'll get the respect we have deserved for so long. That doesn't make it hurt any less though...