The Midwest is two weeks into its senior club season, and Palmer College is already garnering attention. The chiropractic school in Davenport, Iowa, defeated the Minneapolis Menagerie 40-15 in its league opener and then downed reigning DII national champion Milwaukee Scylla 50-29 on Saturday.
RELATED: Scylla Wins DII National Title • DII Midwest West 2: League Stats • Palmer College Home Page
Palmer College has its challenges. Student-athletes graduate every trimester, and thus the player pool is perpetually shifting. That struggle for consistency has been reflected in the team’s records, which have been on the losing end the previous three seasons. But as Chance Johnson enters his second season as head coach, he is optimistic about this team’s potential for success.
“It’s hard to keep the chemistry that a normal team would have, and it’s hard to coach sometimes,” Johnson spoke to player turnover. “I just try to keep it simple. You teach players the best way of going about it and keep their work ethic at its highest, and improve from there.”
It helps that Johnson is pulling players from a student population prone to athletic pursuits and has captains Stephanie Snoeberger and Wren Felton to perpetuate the momentum of last season. Additionally, Tabetha Super has joined the staff as assistant coach, and she is a big asset in culturing an environment that promotes good work ethic.
“We are a chiropractic school so a lot of people are health-based, tend to take care of their bodies and are very active,” Johnson said. “We have a lot of girls who are just willing to work this season and are willing to do what it takes to get that win. A lot of them have been doing extra work on their own – bettering themselves in individual skills, or like Tabetha said, bringing that work ethic up. It’s something we preach: Work hard and the rewards will come.”
The Dragons are traditionally smaller than their Midwestern counterparts, and that size disparity forces the team to rely on fitness and speed. The first test came on August 19 against the Menagerie, and the rewards of off-season work were felt two minutes into the match. Inside center Hailey Eckstein scored, and flyhalf Felton converted for a 7-0 lead that the Dragons would never relinquish. No. 8 Emily Endres, scrumhalf Leilani Zinsli, Eckstein, prop Snoeberger and Felton all scored tries, while the flyhalf added four more conversions in the 40-15 victory.
Palmer College then faced the current DII national champion in Milwaukee Scylla, and the teams contested an entertaining first half. The teams traded two tries apiece, with wing Skyler Zawko and No. 8 Abigail Hesnard scoring for Palmer, and fullback Andrea Mertins and wing Loren Schlei dotting down for Scylla. The difference was Felton’s two conversions, and she added a third after flanker Felicia Devine dotted down the final try of the half, 21-10 to Palmer College.
The Dragons sent Eckstein and Zinsli in for tries by minute 47, and another two Felton conversions gave Palmer College a 35-10 lead. Equally as important, the Dragons tacked on two quick tries after 2017 DII MVP Abigail Williams scored for Scylla, keeping that the point differential growing. The Milwaukee side scored the final two tries of the match, but it was too late in the 50-29 decision to Palmer College.
“It was kind of a surprise,” Johnson said of the good start, “but not really. The players have put in a lot of work in the off-season and are starting to perform. … It was a team win. Everyone had responsibilities and they all played in and trusted our system. They just performed like they were supposed to.”
There is still a lot of rugby to play this year and keeping players focused and invested is always difficult to maintain during a season that will culminate in June. Johnson and Super will engage players in team bonding activities, inject variety into the practice environment so players don’t get bored, and rely on the league’s natural competition to keep players pushing.
“We’re looking forward to seeing how everyone looks this year, but we’re really looking forward to seeing Scylla again,” Johnson looked ahead. “We know we played them in their first game of the season and they’re going to be hungry when they see us again. They play good rugby, and we won’t let up.”
Palmer College and the rest of the Midwest West 2 competition will contest all of its league games in the fall. The league – which is one of four DII competitions operating in the Midwest – added County Will Morrigans this year and is back to five teams (after Wisconsin was promoted to Division I for the 2016-17 season). In the spring, the Midwest playoffs will begin with either quarterfinals or semifinals, pitting the top teams from the four competitions against each other.
Stay tuned!
#PalmerCollege