Providence advanced to NERFU’s DII playoffs. /// Photo: Jessie Fowler
The National League is composed of four competitive regions (CR): Midwest (NCR1), Southern (NCR2), Atlantic North (NCR3) and Mid-Atlantic (NCR4). These four CRs will send a representative to the eastern portion of the Women’s DII Club National Championship quarterfinal and semifinal rounds in Pittsburgh, Pa., on May 20-21. The National League winner heads to Glendale, Colo., against the American League champion for the national title.
READ MORE: DII Club Update: American League • Women’s Rugby Results: April 8-9 • 2017 Women’s Event Calendar
MIDWEST
Semifinals: April 22 @ higher seed
Championship: May 6 @ Lemont, Ill.
Remaining teams: Buffalo, Cincinnati, County Will, Milwaukee
The Midwest has removed a layer of playoffs this year, beginning with the semifinals on April 22, followed by a one-day championship on May 6. The top team from each of the four conferences will feature in the semifinals:
County Will (West 1 #1) @ Milwaukee (West 2 #1)
Cincinnati (East 2 #1) @ Buffalo (East 1 #1)
The finalists will head to Lemont, Ill. With reigning champion Wisconsin now in Division I, the region will be naming a new titleholder this year.
SOUTHERN
Final Four Championship: May 6-7 @ Ormond Beach, Fla.
• Carolinas-Georgia (standings)
Remaining teams: Augusta, Charlotte, Eno River
The top-three teams are heading to Southern Pines, N.C. the weekend of April 22-23. Undefeated Augusta will receive a bye into the final, while #2 Charlotte (5-1) and #3 Eno River (4-2) contest a play-in match on April 22. The victor will play the Furies Sunday for the final, which will also serve as a seeding match to the Southern conference championship, as both finalists will advance.
• Florida (standings)
Remaining teams: Fort Miami, Orlando
The rivalry revisits itself on April 22 in Wellington, Fla., as Fort Miami and Orlando decide the Florida title and representative to the Southern championship. The teams split games during the regular season. Fort Miami is the reigning champ.
• True South (standings)
Final four weekend occurs April 22-23, pitting #1 Nashville vs. #4 Memphis and #2 Knoxville vs. #3 Lagniappe in Saturday’s semifinals. The championship and consolation match will be contested Sunday, and the victor heads to the Southern championship.
The link to the standings reflects the results against each other since the fall, but ignore the round-robin format that is listed for this weekend. Again, the championship is a traditional final four.
ATLANTIC NORTH
Semifinals: April 29 @ higher seed
Championship: May 6 @ Albany, N.Y.
• New England (standings)
Remaining teams: Providence, Worcester
This Geographic Union, like its North Atlantic counterpart, embraced a hybrid structure this year. Providence and Burlington played a DI (“Tier A”) schedule in the fall to give DI’s Beantown and Boston meaningful games, and then took automatic berths to the DII (“Tier B”) final four against Worcester and Portland – the top-two teams in New England’s DII. The NERFU semifinals played out last weekend:
Providence 41-0 Portland
Worcester 38-17 Burlington
Providence and Worcester will play this weekend to determine seeds into the Atlantic North semifinals against the Empire teams. The NERFU champion will host its Atlantic North semifinal, while the NERFU runner-up will travel on April 29.
• Empire (standings)
Remaining teams: Morris, Brooklyn
Empire went hybrid as well this year. All five teams played home-and-away; the top-two teams (Monmouth and Village Lions) will now follow a DI post-season; and the third- and fourth-place teams (Morris and Brooklyn) will follow the DII playoffs.
Empire doesn’t need a seeding match since all of the teams played each other during the regular season, and so Morris knows that it’s hosting its Atlantic North semifinal, and Brooklyn knows it will be traveling on April 29:
Atlantic North Semifinals (April 29)
NERFU #2 (Providence/Worcester) @ Morris
Brooklyn @ NERFU #1 (Providence/Worcester)
The two victors head to Albany for the final on May 6 in Albany.
MID-ATLANTIC (standings)
Final Four Championship: April 29-30 @ Norfolk, Va.
April 22 is the final weekend of regular-season play, and then the top-four teams will advance to the two-day league championship. A nice race between Harrisburg (5-0-1), Brandywine (5-1-1) and Severn River (5-1) has evolved over the split season, and the trio are guaranteed spots in the MAC semifinals.
The fourth spot will likely go to the D.C. Furies, which ended its 3-4 regular season with a 57-0 win over James River (2-4). For comparison purposes, the Furies played Brandywine to a 26-15 loss on March 25. But if James River serves Harrisburg its first loss of the season on April 22, then it will leapfrog over D.C. Furies in the standings and head to the MAC final four.
By Sunday, May 7, the DII field will know the eight teams still in contention for the national title, and if USA Rugby has released the bracket by then, then the quarterfinal match-ups will be known as well.