Photos courtesy Pulaski Rugby
This weekend the Wisconsin girls’ high school league will contest its first round of 15s playoffs, with teams funneling into championship and consolation brackets. Three of the four 2016 semifinalists have returned – Divine Savior Holy Angels (DSHA), Catholic Memorial, Bruisers – and Pulaski has replaced Oak Creek. The Flyers, now three years old, went 3-1 in the regular season and are looking forward to facing down the top teams in the state.
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“They see the growth they’ve made since day one of practice and they’re really excited to test themselves against the top teams and see what we need to continue to work on or grow toward,” Pulaski coach Fran Brunette said in advance of Saturday’s semifinal against DSHA.
Longer term, Pulaski wants to be one of the consistently top teams in the state, and it has been taking steps to realize that goal.
“We went into the season knowing that we had to play a different style of rugby and it took us a couple of weeks to get that in our minds. After that we started to perform really well,” Brunette said. “Typically Pulaski is known for ‘smash mouth’ rugby – get in your face and run it up the gut. We’re becoming more of a finesse team. We’ve been working on our ability to pass the ball this season and spread the field, and the first half of every practice is spent on passing drills.”
Pulaski shut out Stevens Point in a pre-season game and then dropped its season opener 73-5 to Catholic Memorial.
“That was our first game of the season. They were just raw,” Brunette said of the Crusaders defeat.
The team then went back to work and got leading performances out of captains Holly Schupbach and Emily Morris, both of whom are three-year Wisconsin select side players. The senior duo, who both plan to play college rugby next year, earned high praise from their coach, and were able to play additional positions this fall thanks to teammates’ growth.
“Grace O’Malley has been a surprise. She’s really stepped up and because of her play we’re able to move Morris [from No. 8] into the back line,” Brunette said. “Sophomore Lexi Scott has also made a huge impact at flanker and allowed us to move some key players around too.”
The Flyers then defeated DSHA JV, Sussex Hamilton and Kettle Moraine-Vernon (KMV) during league, earning a berth to the state semifinals Saturday. The Dashers are the reigning single-school national champion, and the test isn’t lost on Pulaski. But playing these top teams is part of the process of joining them one day, and the Flyers are excited to give it a go on Saturday.
Catholic Memorial will play Brookfield on the other side of the championship bracket, and the victors will meet in the Wisconsin state championship on Sunday, Oct. 29. In the consolation semifinals, Sussex Hamilton plays Fox Co-op, and Oak Creek faces DSHA JV. Stevens Point and KMV will contest the ninth place match next weekend, when the full field reconvenes to play for place at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex.
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