Rifkin said the lack of widespread support from the College administration and fellow students has led to a closeness among players, who focused on personal goals rather than developing a following on campus.

"It's a completely different atmosphere than any other team I've been on," Rifkin said. "We're out there dedicated to each other, we know how much we all put into the game. It's a self-gratification thing--you work for no one but yourself."

Wallison noted that the team's strong sense of unity also derives from player rotation, which allows all team members time on the field. She added that because matches consist of various skill-level games, from A-side to B-side and sometimes even C-side, so "nobody's trying to beat out the other person...pretty much everybody gets to play."

Yee said the "tons of injuries" the team suffered this year also "helped us to be a stronger team." In addition to Rifkin's diagnosis, last month All-American Heather Lance '99 suffered a broken leg, Wallison underwent surgery on her hand at the beginning of the season, Ward broke her wrist, and many team members experienced recurring dislocated shoulders and ligament injuries. She added that "all the years of injuries were worth it" when the team won the national championship last weekend.

As was typical of the Radcliffe Rugby season, it took a show of courage from players, lead by Co-Captains Kymberle J. Zielinski '99 and Erika R. Lundquist '99, to defeat Penn State in the championship game, with the team down 7-0 at the end of the first half.

"Being behind has never been an issue with the heart that we put into the game," said Ward of the team's gradual success. "Our team has a lot of confidence in ourselves. There was no question that we could come back and win the game."

"We wanted it so much I don't think it would have mattered how much we were down," Rifkin said.

The victory, however, made history. With it, Radcliffe Rugby became the first fully female-coached team to win the title, a fact players said was important to their success. For Wallison, who has played soccer with many teams, Radcliffe Rugby marked her first experience with an all-female coaching staff. She said the difference was noticeable.

"They understand how women go about doing things, what women consider success," she said. "It's hard to understand if you have a male coach that you can achieve. These are women that we could definitely look up to."

The coaches' experience is both significant and varied. Of Radcliffe's three coaches, Darlene "Bubba" Connors and Mary Dixey played rugby on the national level and Lisa Gartner played on the regional level. Wallison said Radcliffe's coaches definitely affected the team's style of play.

"We're better mannered team--other teams have a lot more dirty play," she said. "We love to win and we want to win but we also want to win on good terms...our coaches foster that."

Despite the team's unprecedented success,Radcliffe Rugby still struggled to pay its waythrough the season. As a club sport, the team wasnot eligible for the funding, NCAA varsity teamscurrently receive from the College.

The team has made ends meet by selling T-shirtsand raffle tickets and with help fromUndergraduate Council, Radcliffe Union of Studentsand Harvard and Radcliffe College grants.

Still, players complain that not all costs arecovered.

"It's hard to get to the games, to do what weneed to do," Ward said. "The smallest things, likepaying for your own meals during road trips" are aburden to the club.

Team members pay $45 in dues each semester,plus another $100 to $200 to compete intournaments in Washington D.C. during springbreak. In addition, for the team to attendtournaments, teammates who live in the area oftendonate housing and lend their cars to the team fortransportation to and from games.