Girls rugby wins city championship

The girls rugby team vanquished all adversaries in the battle for PSAL City Championship.

“We won!” The joy escaped from junior Leslie Martinez’s lips when she was asked about the score of the Girls PSAL Rugby Championship that was held on May 30th at Randall’s Island Park.  They played two games.  Neither team could score against the Warriors.  Queens High School Complex lost to Curtis in a shut out that had the Warriors scoring in the double digits.   In the championship game against  Civic Leadership, again Curtis shut out its opponent winning 7-0.

With 13 players, the girls varsity rugby team remained undefeated out of the total of six games during the spring season under coach Marie Neto. As she said, “Nobody was able to score against us.”

The sense of confidence pervaded the whole team. Everyone’s goal was clear, “I knew my girls would do what was needed to be done to bring the cup back home!” said Neto.

Looking back at the entire season, Erin Shannon, a sophomore on the team commented that, “The team really stepped it up this year and redeemed our shaky season last year.” Shannon knows, as well as anyone else, what constitutes success. “The fresh faces on the team combined with more experienced members is the perfect recipe for a successful team,” she said. However, as one of the nine juniors who will be soon leaving the team, Martinez thinks the team needs more freshmen next year.

“I am  very proud of how successful the team has been,” said Shannon, building on the confidence they have now.