Photo courtesy Emerald City Mudhens
Emerald City is the DII club Pacific Northwest champion, shutting out Portland in Saturday’s semifinal and edging Bend 16-12 in Sunday’s final. The Mudhens returns to the Pacific North championship next weekend, and the winner will head to the DII club national championship.
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Emerald City took its injuries early in the season, and although it recovered some momentum by the time it faced Bend in the fall, the team was still missing five starters. But that’s not an excuse for the loss, according to Emerald City head coach John Wooler, who acknowledged Bend’s excellent goal kicker, Xela Goodman, for taking advantage of the Mudhens’ mistakes for points.
On the positive side, those injuries did force players into new positions – inside center Sondra Polonsky moved to flyhalf, and wing Sarah Coe took over scrumhalf – and the team developed some depth in those crucial halfback positions. The squad comes out the other end stronger and with options, which is a boon during double-header weekends.
By the time Emerald City arrived at the Pacific Northwest final four, the team was back to full strength. The Mudhens took on Portland and shut out the Pigs 53-0 in Saturday’s semifinal. Captain and scrumhalf Jenna Middleton, wing Ashley Bengston and fullback Jillian Schneeman scored two tries apiece, while vice captain and flanker Lisa Cooper and outside center Rachel Gonchar also dotted down. Flyhalf Rachel Manning added 13 points on a try and four conversions.
“We played our best game of the season on Saturday against Portland. They’re not an easy team. Our ball-handling, counter-attacking, forwards hitting the gain line – it was a fantastic game to watch,” Wooler said. “The comments on Sunday prior to the game was, ‘We set the standard now. We know how we can play and how we click, and that’s the level we maintain now.’ If you do it once, then you can do it again. All great teams are about consistency and continuity over a period of time.”
On the other side of the bracket, Bend defeated Eugene 52-12. It took the Lady Roughriders 30 minutes to get on the board, but the game opened up in the second half. Inside center Theresia Huber scored three tries, and No. 8 Nicole Fritz, flyhalf Kylie Hahn, wings Kristen Brown and Mara Burnell, outside center Goodman, and reserves Deanna Holliman and Talisa Sobieski scored one try apiece. Goodman (4) and Hahn (2) handled the conversions.
Sunday’s championship pit Emerald City and Bend against each other for the third-straight year. Bend won in 2016 and Emerald City in 2017. The home side held momentum for the first 30 minutes and Manning took advantage with two penalties. The energy shifted after Bend wing Megan Turnidge got outside the defense and scored, and Goodman’s conversion gave the Lady Roughriders the 7-5 lead into the break.
“That was the one thing that we had to focus on at halftime; we had to reset and get the momentum back,” Wooler said. “Rugby is all about momentum. You have that and you can control the pace and tempo and hopefully control the outcome. It’s something we’ve focused on the last couple of weeks prior to playoffs, and we’re stronger mentally than we were last year.”
As the fourth quarter neared, Manning went over for a try, and then Coe’s score pushed the point differential to nine points (16-7). But with 10 minutes to go, Bend answered back with a try from outside center Erica Cardwell, 16-12.
“Those last eight minutes felt like hours,” Wooler said. “We didn’t give away any stupid penalties, and that was my concern – giving them easy opportunities at goal. We’ve been working on our defense and control of the rucks, so we don’t give away anything silly.”
Emerald City held on and retained the Pacific Northwest title with the 16-12 win. Now the Mudhens must play the NorCal champion, to be decided this weekend, for the Pacific North berth to DII club nationals.
“We learned a lot from last year. We went to San Francisco pretty confident,” Wooler recalled the 24-10 loss to SFGG. “I needed to give the team better defensive strategies instead of worrying about the attack. Last year, we scored a lot of points, but were tested defensively at the higher levels. As a coach, I have to give them an increased number of tools to deal with different defensive situations.”
From repelling a pick-and-go campaign on the goal line, to deploying exit strategies inside the 22 meter, Emerald City has reinforced its defense for the next level of play.
“They’re fast learners. It’s up to me to give them the tools and cover all of the areas they might not see at the higher level and not during league,” Wooler said. “It’s paid off. Against ORSU this season, they held us in our 22 for 15 minutes; we were pinned. And we didn’t give up a point, where we might have a year ago. We’re stronger in certain areas, certainly the mental game.”
Emerald City is feeling stronger heading back to the Pacific North championship but expects the toughest game of its season. The team will face either Sacramento Amazons or Berkeley All Blues. Details to be released.