SOUTHINGTON, Connecticut - The American International College women's rugby team fell to defending national champion Quinnipiac University, 38-36, on Saturday, October 29 in a contest played at Southington High School.

On Senior Day for Quinnipiac, the Bobcats opened their account early with a try in the third minute of play. This was followed by another try 10 minutes later, which was converted to leave AIC 12 points behind. A penalty kick from Sarah Coucci (5-for-6 on the day) opened the scoring for AIC six minutes later, and both teams were at odds for the next ten minutes until Quinnipiac broke through and scored twice to leave AIC trailing 24-3. Bridget Kahele finally broke the try line for AIC to send AIC into halftime with a 24-8 score.

Quinnipiac was keen to dominate the second half as it did the first, and came out with guns blazing, adding another two tries in the second half. However, a stern goal line defense with 25 minutes to go proved to be a rallying call for the Yellow Jackets as they went on a four-try rampage.

Kahele was again in the action, adding another try and assisting in the last try before Kayla Clark, Anna Mbengam and Domonique Cammock also got their names on the score sheet. Sarah Coucci was on point with her boot and added the extra points to bring the score to within two points, but AIC fell short of the major upset and the end result was 38-36.

"While not quite getting the job done today is disappointing, the entire team is very upbeat about today's performance," said AIC head coach Peter Lang. "They proved today that they are up there with the best that this conference has to offer. We just need to find a way to bring that level of performance in the first 40 minutes, as well as the second 40, and I think that today we made a major step towards realizing that we can do that. This team has improved game upon game, and are peaking at just the right time as we head into playoffs."