Photo courtesy Milwaukee Scylla Women’s Rugby •
There is a concentration of Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic teams in the DII Club Top 15 because those regions have been contesting league matches. When spring-based competitions in California, among other states, launch into action, then the rankings will expand. Also absent are those teams that have yet to play a league match this fall, but teams like Charlotte and KC Jazz will be considered once they bank some standings points.
Last year’s top two DII teams are no longer in the running, as champion Life West will follow a DI playoff pathway in 2016-17, and Wisconsin is now competing in the Midwest’s DI. Wisconsin regularly singled out Milwaukee Scylla as their best competition, and lamented the national championship set-up that affords one berth per region. With Wisconsin out of the way, this year is the Scylla’s chance to live up to their neighbor’s endorsement, and the team’s off to a good start. Twin Cities is still in the league and providing good competition, and the Menagerie is not to be looked past either.
Harrisburg pushed Wisconsin in the national semifinals last year and looks toward its Brandywine rivalry to stay sharp. The pair played to a 5-5 tie last weekend, and one suspects that Severn River will throw its hat into the ring as well. The Maryland squad dropped down from the Mid-Atlantic’s DI competition (along with James River and Norfolk), and has posted two wins thus far.
A point of clarification is needed for the Atlantic North. When Empire localized its competition and moved to a DI/II hybrid league, New England (NERFU) attempted to keep its DI (now called, “Tier A”) intact by promoting two DII (“Tier B”) teams within NERFU. But former Burlington coach Liz Royer explains, however, that the actual set-up is different:
Burlington and Providence are both still officially Division 2 teams but were asked to play a Division 1 schedule so those teams could have more games after Empire decided to split. Burlington was going to be forced to move up to D1 but we were in the process of appealing (since we knew we were going to lose over half of our starters this fall) so NERFU came up with this scenario as a compromise.
It’s confusing because the NERFU standings/schedule are including those friendly games as official matches, and that’s why Providence was included in last week’s DI club rankings. The Rhode Island side is now on the DII Top 15, and that 27-17 win over DI Albany is now slotted in the friendly category. Worcester is playing a full DII schedule in NERFU and has outscored its four opponents 207-47. Two of those wins were single-digit victories, which is also why Amoskeag is on the list.
Emerald City ended the fall portion of its season last weekend, defeating Tacoma 77-0 Saturday. The most significant win came against reigning league champion Bend, which beat the Mudhens in last year’s final. The Lady Roughriders are 1-2 right now, having dropped a 19-14 game to Boise on the road.
County Will Morrigans (3-0), Cincinnati (4-0) and Buffalo (3-0) are all leading their respective Midwest divisions. The Morrigans got good push-back from Grand Rapids, while Cincinnati has alternated between blowouts and competitive games against Scioto Valley and Louisville. No one’s come close to Buffalo, but hopefully the team schedules competitive friendlies in the spring in anticipation of the cross-divisional playoffs.
The Red River conference has moved from the DI/DII hybrid league and separated into individual competitions. DII is divided into north and south pools, and Oklahoma Roses and Tulsa Tawandas are the early-season teams to watch. The Roses finished fourth in the hybrid league last year but forewent the call-up to DI to remain more local. The Tawandas opened up their season with a 77-17 win over the Griffins, which came on the back of 32-29 friendly victory over DI Little Rock. The pair do battle this weekend, and the victor will remain on the rankings.
The Frontier is in its infancy but sees several new teams in the conference. More to come on that front. In the meantime, the big game will occur between Kansas City Jazz and Boulder on Oct. 22. The Babes have already earned their first win of the matrix season, while the Jazz had their opener postponed.
Nashville is currently holding down the South on the rankings, having played two league matches thus far. The True South has moved away from its round robin, winner-take-all tournament, which took place in the fall and determined its spring South championship rep. The five-team league will now play matrix games throughout the year and maintain standings. The teams are still getting together for a round robin on Oct. 22-23, and those matches will go a long way in lending insight to the region.
The Carolinas/Georgia competition is slowly warming up, and Charlotte (which beat Nashville 64-0 in a fall friendly) plays its first matrix match on Oct. 29. The Atlanta Harlequins earned a forfeit win against Columbia and play this weekend. Florida plays one game in early December before launching into the season end of January. Pacific South and NorCal play in the spring.
DII CLUB TOP 15
Rank. Team (League record). Results
1. Milwaukee Scylla (2-0). 26-10 v Twin Cities D2, 63-21 v Palmer College
2. Harrisburg (2-0-1). 46-15 W v Norfolk, 58-7 W v Doylestown, 5-5 v Brandywine
3. Brandywine (2-0-1). 49-26 W v James River, 53-0 W v Doylestown, 5-5 v Harrisburg
4. Providence (2-0). Defeated Burlington 81-7, 46-5 & DI Albany 27-17 (f)
5. Twin Cities (2-1). 25-15 W v Menagerie, 30-0 W v Palmer College, 26-10 L to Scylla
6. Emerald City (4-0). Defeated league champ Bend 28-17
7. County Will Morrigans (3-0). 169-0 v Fox Valley, 43-10 v Fort Wayne, 41-17 v Grand Rapids
8. Severn River (2-0). 38-7 W v DC Furies 2, 51-0 W v Phoenixville
9. Worcester (4-0). Outscored opp 207-47, single-digit wins v Amoskeag & Portland
10. Cincinnati (4-0). 27-12 v Scioto Valley, 85-0 v Indianapolis, 34-14 v Louisville, 77-0 v Dayton
11. Amoskeag (2-1). Lost 14-12 to Worcester
12. Buffalo (3-0). 43-7 v South Buffalo, 52-5 v Akron, 97-7 v Pitt Highlanders
13. Nashville (2-0). Defeated Knoxville 38-32
14. Boulder Babes (1-0). Defeated Kansas Bison 59-5, loss friendly to DI Black Ice
15. Oklahoma (1-0). Defeated Dallas Athletic (DARC) 69-0