Fullerton v Ventura in pre-season match /// Photo: Paul Rudman – KLC fotos (see more) •
The awakening continues, as the entire western seaboard hosts club and college league matches starting Friday. The South comes alive as well, as three conferences contest matrix games.
CLUB
It’s opening weekend for the DII PACIFIC SOUTH, and all eight teams will be in motion. The league gains Las Vegas from DI this year, and the Slots will kick off against San Fernando Valley. In fact, all four games will go down in California this weekend, as Fullerton hosts San Luis Obispo, and Pasadena welcomes Santa Barbara. The match to watch is Tucson vs. Ventura County. The duo contested the SoCal final last year, and the Outlaws took the berth to the national quarterfinals. That rivalry rekindles on Saturday.
NORCAL heads into round two of league season. The competition is actually a hybrid DI/DII format, where the champion advances to the DI post-season and the runner-up follows the DII post-season. The set-up is nothing new – Red River used to follow this format, and Empire has adopted something similar this season.
In the end, it’s a good thing, as Life West is a DI contender, and new additions like Eagles Jordan Gray and Elizabeth Cairns will continue that trend. Gray, who helped the San Diego Surfers to a WPL title in the fall (alongside Surfers and Life West coach Jarrod Faul), received a waiver to play for the Gladiatrix, since she’s now enrolled at the chiropractic school as a student. As an aside, there will be a DI Pacific North championship this year between the NorCal champ and Pacific Northwest’s Seattle Saracens, the current DI national champion. More on that to come.
San Francisco Golden Gate will improve to 2-0 if it gets past Sacramento this weekend. Gate took down Berkeley 38-10 last Saturday and saw UC Davis grad Kristin Shum put down a hat trick. San Jose won its opener 22-15 against Colusa County and sees Life West in round two. The All Blues host newcomer Colusa County, and both will be looking for their first win.
DI COLLEGE
GOLD COAST … has banked one league game so far: UC San Diego’s 57-0 win over UC Santa Barbara. Scrumhalf Wing Ly and outside center Teigan MacDonald scored two tries apiece, while No. 8 Laura-Ann Fierro, fullback Linh Cook, wing Hanna Blanche Banta and reserve Kayla Tubera also dotted down. Flyhalf Alex Beckett slotted six conversions. The Tritons take on UCLA, which defeated CSU Northridge 27-19 in a friendly last Saturday. Northridge heads to Arizona State, while Arizona travels to UC Santa Barbara.
PACIFIC MOUNTAIN … both North and West competitions are active. The West gets started a day early, as UC Davis hosts Stanford Friday night in Aggie Stadium. The Aggies then get a day’s rest before playing Cal on Sunday. Humboldt looks for its second DI win against Chico State, which dropped a 33-12 contest to Davis last weekend.
It’s opening weekend for the North, as Washington State hosts Oregon, and Oregon State travels to Washington. WSU has been the team to beat, and impactful players like Alex Denzinger, Gaby Drllevich, Monae Hendrickson and Josie Markoff still highlight the roster. We’re interested in the Huskies, which boast a large CIPP roster, nearly double its competitors, and are curious how that’s impacting on-field results.
FLORIDA … Central Florida looks for win number two against Florida International, while the Florida vs. Florida State rivalry plays out in Tallahassee.
DII COLLEGE
GOLD COAST … Took a look at UC Irvine this week (read more), and now the rest of the DII conference will have field time to express itself. A lot of interest surrounds the UC Riverside vs. Grand Canyon match. The former is the traditional leader who’s had a slow start; the latter is a first-year program coached by former Eagles, backed by the university, and showcasing a healthy roster. CSU Long Beach looked strong in the fall and opens against Claremont, while USC heads to Occidental.
SIRC … The sprawling conference has reorganized into four pools (North, South, East, West) of four teams each. After a three-game matrix season, the top-two teams from each pool advance to the conference quarterfinals. For more insight, read the recent piece on Tulane, which also addresses some of the interesting challenges through which the Green Wave is wading. Fourteen of 16 teams kick off the matrix season this weekend:
North Georgia v Kennesaw State
Tennessee v Georgia Tech
Clemson v Georgia
Georgia Southern v Emory
Arkansas State v Middle Tennessee St
Alabama v Tulane
Louisiana State v Spring Hill College
WEST COAST … resumes play after contesting the first half of the season in the fall. The game to watch is UN Reno vs. Fresno State. Reno was the perpetual runner-up to Humboldt (now DI), but it’s the Bulldogs that have ruled so far. Fresno State had a very interesting story last year – winning the West Coast’s DIII title and then taking an at-large berth to the DII regionals to knock off the 2015 national championship runner-up. After a 78-31 road win against the Wolfpack in November, looks like Fresno State is making a case for league favorite. Also playing this weekend: San Francisco hosts St. Mary’s, CSU Monterey Bay travels to Sacramento State, and UC Santa Cruz plays Santa Clara.
In the Carolinas, Coastal College plays College of Charleston, while the Citadel takes on UNC Wilmington. In Florida, Florida Atlantic plays Miami.
Stay tuned for results.