The season began on a high note as Radcliffe won the competitive Beantown Tournament, dominating Smith, Bowdoin and Amherst, before gaining a solid victory over arch-rival Penn State, 10-5.

"We came out of the starting blocks well," senior flanker Haley Steele said. "But then we started coasting."

Personnel issues were a big factor for Radcliffe--three of eleven members of the class of '98 were All-Americans--but players also sensed a changed attitude.

"It was a weird team dynamic," sophomore hooker Bernadine Han said. "We were focused to win again, but it didn't happen. We tried to refocus, but never did."

Even though Radcliffe tallied three convincing victories in the following weeks over Bowdoin, Yale and Boston College, the team fell in crucial match-ups versus Dartmouth and Amherst.

In early October, with Radcliffe seemingly in control of the Northeastern Rugby Football Union, the league the team competes in, Dartmouth scored an upset 12-8 victory.

"It was a hard adjustment to not be the underdog," said junior Lori Rifkin, the spring captain. "It was harder to prepare for each game, and we started to take it for granted."

For the shocked Radcliffe squad, a victory against the traditionally weak Amherst squad the following week would have preserved a No. 2 ranking, good enough to qualify for Nationals.