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Midwest DII Finalists to be Decided

  • 07 Nov 2018
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Photo: Midwest Rugby Union

The Midwest is the only Competitive Region (CR) that names its DI and DII club champions in the fall, and thus its representatives to national playoffs in the spring. The benefit is that just two teams will play a split season as opposed to the entire region, and they can craft their own spring schedules in the build to nationals.

There are four divisions competing in two conferences within the DII Midwest: East Gold and East Green in the Eastern Conference, and West Gold and West Green in the Western Conference. Come playoffs, the Eastern Conference holds crossover semifinals between the two divisions, and those two victors advance to the Eastern Conference Championship. The Western Conference doesn’t hold crossover playoffs, and the two divisions’ standings leaders advance to the Western Conference Championship.

Two East Gold teams reunite for a rematch of one of the best games of the season. Pittsburgh Forge, a new team that combined the Pittsburgh Angels and Pittsburgh Highlanders (read more), upset long-time leader Buffalo with a 41-39 regular-season win. That game essentially determined the league leader, and Forge was rewarded with a home game against Columbus during the crossover playoffs, while Buffalo traveled to Cincinnati.

Forge celebrated with a 36-5 win over the Ohio team, while Buffalo returned home with a 13-10 victory. Now the upstate New York side travels to western Pennsylvania for the berth to the Midwest Championship.

RELATED: East Gold Regular Season / East Green Regular Season / Midwest Eastern Playoffs

It’s all down to one game for the West, but both Milwaukee Scylla and Chicago Sirens have had tough seasons. Scylla, the former DII national champion, started its season with a one-point loss to Palmer College before righting itself for the rest of the fall. The Sirens endured a forfeit-riddled season and leaned on Grand Rapids for competition. Grand Rapids beat the Sirens 12-10 on the first meeting, and then the Chicago side won 57-19 in the rematch. The Sirens will have the benefit of home-field advantage in Saturday’s game.

RELATED: West Gold Regular Season / West Green Regular Season / Midwest DI Regular Season

The conference champions will then advance to the Midwest DII Championship on Nov. 17 in Lemont, Ill. There, Division I will also declare its champion, as undefeated Minnesota Valkyries take on reigning champion Detroit for the title. During the teams’ previous meeting, the Valkyries banked a 29-27 win in Detroit.

For more information, visit the Midwest Rugby Union.

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