Life University’s women’s team has to work hard to find the right challenges, and the Running Eagles will face a good one in the shape of the Atlanta Harlequins club team this Saturday in Marietta, Georgia.

Unbeaten so far this season, Life is coming off a game against Georgia Tech in which the Running Eagles' JV side won 142-0, so you know the team have depth. 

Watch Atlanta Harlequins at Life University LIVE

DATE: Saturday, Feb. 17 | TIME: 3 PM ET | WHERE: Marietta, GA

Games against top clubs and well-regarded college squads have all gone the same way — a Life win — and head coach Rosalind Chou is likely looking for a game to shake up her team a little bit.

“That Central Washington game (on September 30) was quite a nail-biter when we went out there,” Chou said. “From the fall we talked about how valuable it was to have a game that physical, that intense. It’s important for us to get those kinds of games.”

That CWU clash was indeed the closest game Life played all fall, with the Running Eagles capturing a 22-15 win over the Wildcats in Ellensburg, WA. Alex Sedrick, Lekia Haynes, Darian Lovelace, and Taylor Makowski all scored in a game that was 17-15 with time running out.

The Harlequins provide a welcome test for Life, and vice versa. Atlanta has a deep and well-coached outfit that competes in the Women’s Premier League. The Harlequins run a strong D2 squad, which is not always common among women's clubs, and can pull from a fairly large roster of tough and talented players.

They will have perhaps a strength advantage over Life and will want to take advantage of that in Saturday's game. Chou is looking forward to it, as her strong first-year class might need to be whacked around a little.

“Coming out of the fall, what we wanted to get out of it was getting the first years up to speed and getting the chemistry with the rest of the team and have them learn our structures and systems, and we did that,” Chou said. “I can’t say enough about what they’ve done. They worked their butts off.”

The newer players are learning to trust their teammates, and not just take control of games.

“Sometimes it’s overwhelming to have to adjust to that,” said Chou. “They see it’s a different world. Sometimes the response is ‘I’m going to jump in and roll with the punches and learn.’ And sometimes the response is to just stall. But this group of new players has been very good and the seniors talk about that.”

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