Conference standings as of Dec. 8
The fall portion of the DII West Coast collegiate conference’s regular season comes to an end this weekend and will resume January 20. The league has added a new member – San Jose State – and all nine teams will play each other once for an eight-week regular season. Conference playoffs begin in March.
RELATED: West Coast Schedule • West Coast Standings • Spring 2017 West Coast Champion: Fresno State
Topping the standings with 10 points is UN Reno (2-0), which has outscored its opponents 178-17 so far. Rachel Aldax leads with 43 points on a try and 19 conversions. Audrey Snow (6), Teagan Cammarano (5), Taylor Tito (5), Lacy Ray (4) and Anna DuBois (3) have all been effective try-scorers.
One of Reno’s victories came against UC Santa Cruz (2-1), which sits in second with nine standings points. UCSC defeated San Jose State (0-2) 71-12 and edged CSU Monterey Bay (0-3) by two points. Pleasanton Cavaliers alumna Loren Roundtree leads all points scorers with 35 on seven tries.
Four teams have played one game so far, and all of those victories were bonus-point wins. Point differential sorts teams if they’re tied on standings points, and St. Mary’s (1-0) is in third after a 112-point win over the University of San Francisco (USF). Jillian Eicher, Kristina Tomelloso and Andrea Zaragoza had three-try days, and Katherine Whiting accounted for 27 points on a try and 11 conversions.
Santa Clara (1-0), the 2017 conference runner-up, won its lone fall fixture 72-15 over USF (0-2). Prop Mariela Murillo led Santa Clara with 37 points, scoring five tries and kicking six conversions. Sacramento State (1-0) beat San Jose State 45-12 and saw No. 8 Paloma Salazar notch 25 points on three tries and five conversions.
And finally, reigning conference champion Fresno State played its league opener last weekend, and the Bulldogs defeated CSU Monterey Bay 61-19. Referee Larry Freitas took detailed notes on the match, which began with an Otter kickoff, ruck and Jenna Balestra breakaway.
“The flyhalf took off like a shot out of a cannon, breaking tackles and running away from defenders until she was caught well inside the Otter 22, and therefore unloaded the ball to winger Alexys Gonzalez for the first of many tries,” Freitas recalled.
Gonzalez scored her second try minutes later, 10-0 to Fresno State. Freitas indicated that CSU Monterey Bay emboldened its defense for the subsequent 15 minutes, by then Balestra and fullback Jacklyn Blankenship scored tries for the 22-0 lead.
“Fresno State’s back line was getting quick ball from the forwards at the breakdown and running rampant despite some good tackling in the open field by the Cal State backs,” Freitas continued. “There just seemed to be someone on the spot to take a pass for Fresno’s ball-runners, and the Bulldogs were quick to tackles to win possession.”
The Otters got on the board in minute 35, when prop Kiari Young picked from the base of a ruck and bashed over the line for the try. Scrumhalf Hanna Kim converted. Before the break, No. 8 Megan Walls scored and put Fresno State ahead 27-7.
The Bulldogs outscored the Otters 34-12 in the second half, and Freitas pointed to scrumhalf Raquel Macias, who scored two tries herself, for Fresno State’s success on offense. Balestra, Vanessa Maravilla, Nicole Munoz and Regan Garner also scored second-half tries.
“The Otters did put up some second-half points, and they were led by hooker Emi Lacandazon, who can’t be over 5’2″ but plays with so much heart,” the referee praised. “She would score two tries in the second half, one in the southwest corner of the in-goal, barely getting the ball down as defenders larger than her could not stop her from doing so. And she always seemed to be scooping up the ball when it was loose in play, and making tackles on players much bigger than herself. She should have gotten player of the match for the losing side.”
The standings will update after this weekend’s games and hold until Jan. 20, 2018.
DEC. 9-10 GAMES
UN Reno @ Sacramento State
San Jose State @ CSU Monterey Bay
USF @ Fresno State