Palmer College / Photo: Missy Keating
The Midwest will name its DII club champion this Saturday in Lemont, Ill., and the titleholder will become the first team to book a spot in the 2017-18 national quarterfinals, which will be contested in the spring. Last weekend, the region’s East Division and West Division held their championships, and those two victors will be vying for the berth to nationals.
RELATED: Four Remain in MW Title Hunt • Women’s Rugby Scores: Nov. 3-5 • 2017 DII National Champion Milwaukee Scylla
Interestingly, the two Midwest finalists entered the post-season as the number two seeds in their respective leagues. Cincinnati finished second to Scioto Valley in the East 2 pool and thus had to travel to East 1 leader South Buffalo during the crossover semifinals. The Kelts won that late-October game 41-0. On the other side of the bracket, East 1 runner-up Buffalo traveled to Scioto Valley and returned to New York with a 12-10 victory.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati Kelts RFC
Since Cincinnati posted the bigger semifinal win, the Kelts earned home-field advantage in the East Division championship last Saturday, and Buffalo traveled to Ohio once again.
Two lead changes occurred in the opening 15 minutes of the match, and then the scoreboard remained idle for the rest of the game. Cincinnati took the first lead as wing Krista Dyer dotted down an unconverted try. Buffalo outside center Kala Crawford scored approximately 10 minutes later, and inside center Jenna Hutzler’s conversion gave the visitors a 7-5 lead. The week prior, it was Hutzler’s conversion that ended up being the difference in the win over Scioto Valley.
But the lead was short-lived as Cincinnati wing JaLisa Elkins crossed for the go-ahead try, 10-7, which held through regulation. It was a tenuous ending, as the hosts took a yellow card during the final minutes of the match, and Buffalo pushed for one final score. Withstanding that onslaught, however, generates confidence and that will be useful this weekend.
The West Division championship was also tense and had a different build-up. The West 1 pool pit its top two teams – Grand Rapids and Chicago Sirens – against each other, with the winner getting a berth to the divisional title match. The Gazelles triumphed 17-5 and earned home-field advantage Saturday after the post-season swap in the West 2.
Palmer College had been leading the West 2 standings until the final week of regulation, when a 23-10 loss to Twin Cities propelled the Amazons into first place. But Twin Cities relinquished its post-season berth, and Palmer College made good use of the second life.
The Dragons sent wing Skyler Zawko into the try zone seven minutes into the match, 5-0, and there the scoreboard stood into the fourth quarter.
Photo: Missy Keating
“They were giving 100% right from the jump, with their forwards running hard and their backline delivering balls right where they needed to be, when they needed to be there,” Grand Rapids prop Cassie Clark recounted. “They ran a different offensive scheme than what were used to seeing, with their forwards lined up on both sides of the breakdown running crash balls off of their ball handler. Because of this, it took us a bit to adjust, they caught us offsides a bit too – due in part to them stacking the rucks the way they did.”
Nevertheless, the Dragons couldn’t find another seam until minute 61, when power prop Stephanie Snoeberger scored. Fullback Alyssa Condomitti and prop Rachel Leibovitz followed with tries, and outside center Wren Felton added three conversions for the 26-0 win.
Palmer College and Cincinnati will now meet in the DII club Midwest championship. Additionally, Detroit and Wisconsin will contest the DI championship at Chicago Blaze’s pitch in Lemont, Ill., with the winner heading to the DI national quarterfinals in the spring. Stay tuned for reportage.
Cincinnati #PalmerCollege