San Diego’s Liz Trujillo / Photo: Jay Coulter (view more)
This weekend marks Week 3 of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) but it will be San Diego’s debut. The reigning champion will not ease into the season and will host 2016 runner-up Glendale Merlins (2-0) Saturday.
RELATED: WPL Week 2 Round-up • WPL Week 1 Round-up • Scores: Sept. 8-10, 2017
San Diego is always susceptible to roster fluctuations as its proximity to Chula Vista sees players rotate in and out of the area. The Surfers’ championship run last year has exacerbated that turnover, as several veterans hung up their boots after achieving the team’s first league title. That said, the team is anything but short on talent.
And that talent extends to the coaching staff. Jarrod Faul had a very successful 2016-17, serving as head coach to the Surfers during their WPL run and then heading north to the Bay Area for Life West’s DI national championship spring.
“Every year, there is always a player shift, this season we lost a considerable amount of experience to players relocating and retiring,” Faul explained. “However, we’ve managed to retain several key players and are pleased with all the exciting young prospects joining to the team.”
Faul pointed to Elizabeth Trujillo, World Cup Eagle Deven Owsiany and Hunter Griendling, who were all part of the leadership group last season.
“They’re all influential players and will certainly be big contributors to the Surfers on and off the field this upcoming season,” Faul commended. “We also have the likes of Tia Blythe who was outstanding for us last season.”
The Surfers have also retained three of five Eagle forwards who relocated to San Diego for the 15s residency in fall 2016. Hope Rogers, Sam Pankey and Jamila Reinhardt return, while WPL MVP Jordan Gray is now at Life West as a student. Molly Kinsella has retired and moved back to Colorado.
Faul is also looking forward to working with players who helped the Surfers to second place at the club 7s national championship, notably Megan Foster (who’s worked with Faul at Life West), Maddie Arenchild and Meleah Martin.
San Diego takes on the Glendale Merlins, who lead the Blue Conference after a 27-26 win over Berkeley (1-1) and 20-6 win over Chicago North Shore (0-1). The Surfers will play five of eight league games on the road, due to a double-header weekend in Chicago Oct. 7-8.
“We are excited about the expansion and the possibility of competing against new teams,” Faul said. “Furthermore, it’s great for the growth and development of high-level rugby in the women’s game.”
North Shore and ORSU (0-1) will look for their first Blue Conference win this weekend and play each other in a rematch of the 2014 DI club national championship. North Shore assistant coach Lani Larson – who played on that 2014 team – spoke about the teams’ history, and ORSU coach Beckett Royce relished the opportunity to expand the league schedule against a physical North Shore (read more).
Both sides bring some young, new talent into the elite sphere, with North Shore No. 8 Brittany O’Dell (Grand Rapids, Davenport University) making a memorable debut on Saturday, and Oregon graduate Emma Richie bringing some pop to the ORSU line from flyhalf. The teams will meet in Oregon, where tragic wildfires have affected air quality and the frequency of ORSU’s practices.
In the Red Conference, the D.C. Furies (0-1) are coming off a bye week (more to come) and will host Beantown (1-1), which lost a 24-point contest to New York last weekend. A win for either side this weekend would do good things: The Furies want that first win regardless and are eager to implement two weeks of work onto the pitch; Beantown wants to regain the momentum that it established in Week 1 after a 39-22 win over Atlanta. If Yeja Dunn and Jess Davis make the trip south, then watch for these young pack players. They’ve been influential for Beantown in both games thus far.
The Harlequins (0-2) play their first home game against New York (1-0), and although Atlanta is winless, it’s not without triumphs. The team has traveled lightly to both games, but earned a four-try bonus point against Beantown, and was within one score of Twin Cities until the 77th minute (26-12 final). Watch for veterans like Maggie Craig, Pat Neder, Ros Chou and captain Monique Compito to set the tone.
New York has major talent but it’ll be interesting to see who makes the trip south. World Cup Eagles Tiffany Faaee, the captain times two, and Alycia Washington might be travel-weary. A significant group of newcomers – whether rising up through New York’s developmental ranks or migrating from local clubs – will have the chance to further prove themselves. New York is also fielding a DI team this year and joins the ranks of clubs (Twin Cities, D.C., ORSU) that have a second team with a concurrent fall league schedule.
For more information on the schedule and standings, visit wplrugby.org.
