The Providence College Women’s Rugby Club team obliterated the notion of “transition” in going from Division II to Division I play this fall.

Coming off its first USA Rugby Women’s Collegiate Division II Championship in the spring, PC posted a 5-1-0 record in making an impressive jump to Division I action this fall. In so doing, the Friars outscored their opponents, 194-38, recording two shutouts in the process.

PC opened the season with a 61-3 victory over Boston University and wrapped up the fall by downing Boston College, 36-10. In between, the Friars defeated the University of Connecticut (26-0), Amherst College (7-0), and Wesleyan (52-10). Their only loss was to Yale, 15-12.

The Friars’ accomplishments were all the more significant considering their youth. They have seven senior starters but six suffered various season-ending injuries in the first three weeks of the season. Twenty-one newcomers joined the team during the 2004-05 season.

“The New England Rugby Football Union wanted us to move up the last two years,” said fifth-year Head Coach Richard Ashfield, who took the Friars to the national Division II Elite 8 Tournament each of the last three years. “We also decided this was the time to go up. One loss kept us out of the playoffs this year, but I feel we can compete at this level.”

“I think we’ve developed a program so that we’ll be a perennially strong team,” added Ashfield. “Some positions will be harder to fill than others, but the enthusiasm of the girls will enable us to be a strong team.”

PC’s top returning player this fall may have been outside center Kathleen Ryan ’07 (Walpole, Mass.), who led the Friars with 10 five-point tries. But the story within the story was the Friars’ depth. Injuries to starters forced Ashfield to juggle his lineup. Numerous players filled in admirably, most notably Kelly Kessaris ’09 (Woburn, Mass.), Kaeli Morrissey ’09 (Norwell, Mass), and Carla Feitl ’07 (Coram, N.Y.). First-year players Kessaris, who played scrum halfback, and Morrissey, at inside center, both stepped into pivotal positions and “did an awesome job,” the coach emphasized.

“That’s a pretty big deal for a freshman to be playing on our ‘A’ [varsity] side,” said Ashfield, who also singled out the front-line play of Katie Walsh ’08 (Natick, Mass.) and Stephanie Jarem ’07 (Avon, Conn.).