LYNN -- The first time Elizabeth Petersen played rugby as a college student at Boston University, there were certain unladylike aspects of the game the slender redhead had to overcome.

''My first rugby game I didn't want to tackle," said Petersen. ''I was thinking nice girls don't tackle. This sport challenges what you think about your body."

Petersen, who lives in Marblehead, is now helping other women learn that ''nice girls" do indeed tackle, at least in the rough and tumble world of rugby. She is cocaptain of the North Shore Women's Rugby Football Club, founded in 2004 as an offshoot of the North Shore Rugby Football Club. The goal was to provide an outlet for women who had played rugby in college, and for those curious enough to try it for the first time. The club started with seven members and has now grown to 28 active players with an additional 20 nonplaying social members, according to club president Joanna Rockwood. The team uses Lynn's General Electric Employees Athletic Association Field.

There are other women's rugby clubs in Greater Boston, but almost all are for experienced players only, often traveling around the country to play other top post-collegiate clubs. North Shore Women's Rugby is more inclusive. Most of the players are young professionals in their 20s, women who grew up playing sports in high school and college but not necessarily rugby. The club counts among its members a teacher, an editor, finance associates, a research associate, and a Starbucks manager.

''The goal was to make it so women of all backgrounds can play," said Petersen, 26. ''Many of these women hadn't even seen a rugby ball before."

Monika Gogla of Quincy fits that profile. The 23-year-old grew up as an athlete, played collegiate lacrosse at Merrimack, and was looking for a way to stay connected to team sports. She had never played rugby before, but after one practice she was hooked.

''Growing up, you play football with the boys and you tackle, but then as you grow older there are not contact sports," said Gogla, a sales associate for the Boston Company Asset Management LLC, a branch of Mellon Financial. ''Here you can take out your aggressiveness on the field. I missed that childhood roughness. It's fun."

Rugby is a rough sport, but one of the misconceptions is that it's an intentionally violent one, said Dan Solomon, a member of the men's North Shore Rugby Football Club and coach of the women's club. Solomon said that when played properly, the game is about time, space, and teamwork, not brute force. ''Rugby is a contact sport, not a collision sport," said Solomon.

Still, the game is not for everyone. Natasha Mezhebovsky of Lynn, who began playing rugby when she attended Alfred University in New York, said it becomes clear within a week which newcomers are going to stick and which are going to go home and nurse their bruises, never to return.

One exception to that rule is Nikki Lawrence, a petite blonde who began playing with North Shore last season. Lawrence, a 25-year-old Starbucks manager from Brighton, was both terrified and confused when she first started playing. Before her first game, she asked if she could just watch. Petersen and fellow captain Katie Mahoney both said they didn't think Lawrence would last. Now, she is one of the team's top ruggers.

''I learned a lot about myself," said Lawrence. ''I learned I can do a lot more than I thought I could. It's added a lot to my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm glad I didn't walk out of those first couple of practices and never come back because I would seriously regret it at this point."

Lawrence admits she had a lot of misconceptions about rugby: that it's overly violent, that it's a lesser form of football, that you can't be feminine and be a good rugby player. She said almost all of those have been ''blown out of the water."

''In rugby, there's a place and position for everyone, all body types, if you're willing to work hard and get fit," said Solomon. He said women are, in some cases, better suited to the sport than men because they don't have to fight football instincts while picking up the intricacies of rugby.

Regardless of a player's size, the game does take a toll on the body, and requires a certain tolerance for pain. Mezhebovsky has broken both her arm and her leg playing for North Shore. Lawrence tore ligaments in her ankle last season. And bruises are as much a part of play as rucks and mauls.

''For me at this point, bruises are like trophies that you compare with your teammates," said Gogola. ''I got a cleat-mark on my forehead and my coworkers were like, 'You need to stop playing.'"

Mezhebovsky, who also works for Boston Company Asset Management, said that after showing up to work battered and bruised, coworkers have offered to recommend her to a domestic violence counselor.

Lawrence said it's interesting explaining to her Starbucks customers why their latte is being served up with a black eye. ''Even a broken bone or 40 black eyes is not going to be enough to stop me from playing," she said.

But it's not just the rugby that keeps the women coming back, paying $75 a season (there are two seasons, spring and fall) to play. It's each other. Lawrence described playing with a club full of athletic, intelligent, ambitious women as ''empowering."

Gogola said the club has a camaraderie not found in the workplace.

''It's sort of invigorating," she said. ''There's so many strong independent women out here that wanted to do something other than going to the gym. I find it very supportive coming here after work every Tuesday and Thursday" for practices.

''Everyone has a different profession, but we're still out here getting mud in our faces."

For information on the North Shore Women's Rugby Football Club, send an e-mail to info@nswomensrugby.com or go to its website, www.nswomensrugby.com.

Learning the lingo

Some key rugby terms: