Atlanta did not enter the 2019 Women’s Premier League (WPL) season with expectations of the national semifinals, but after Saturday’s win against Chicago North Shore, the Harlequins finish the regular season atop the East conference.
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“They’re not too serious, which is crazy because we’re 7-1,” Atlanta head coach Ros Chou said. “I don’t think anyone would have predicted a 7-1 season.
“Every time they score, they get together and jump up and down, screaming. Even players like Lisa Jackson and Mo Compito – they’re in the middle of their newer-ish teammates, too,” the coach continued. “That’s probably the best way to describe this group: in a circle, jumping up and down, just so excited.”
Interestingly, it’s not just the influx of youth that is producing this blissful energy. The team has many Life University alumnae, and that DI Elite program requires more dedication to rugby than a senior club player can commit. So for those players, the transition to the WPL has been enjoyable in certain aspects.
“The ones that I’ve had for 4-5 years at Life, they’re realizing how fun it is to play club rugby,” said Chou, who is also head coach of the Running Eagles. “We train twice a week, socialize with the other team, and they don’t feel the pressure from the whole university or whole program.”
Heading into the final week of the regular season, Atlanta had already secured its berth to the championship semifinals, so that pressure to win had also alleviated.
“We used this last game to see some folks in different spots and get players game time in different positions – in case we have an injury or yellow card and don’t have a 9 or 10, for example, we’ll have people with valuable game time there,” Chou said.
Caitlane Fricia, normally a center, started at weakside flanker and did a great job providing tons of straightforward running and injecting great pace to Saturday’s game. Chi Chi Chudwueke and Darian Lovelace were both back in the lineup after sustaining early-season injuries, and upped the dynamism of the forward pack.
It all came together for a 49-0 win over Chicago North Shore, and the victory marked the team’s first shutout of the year. It was a nice way to end the fall, especially since defense had been a major focus. The Harlequins have the best point differential and lowest points-against across the whole league.
If there was one critique regarding Saturday’s win, it was the inconsistent cadence of the scoring. The squad scored 44 of 49 points in the first half, unlike the previous matches where Atlanta picked up the tempo in the second 40.
“Sometimes they need focus,” Chou said. “We’ve talked about how we have a slow 20 minutes in the beginning of the game and that starts during warm-up. They’re joking around and just enjoying each other, but we’ve talked about how they can still do that but they’ve got to start the game fast and aggressively, and we did that. But we did fall off in the second half.”
Chou noted some key substitutions – notably Charli Jacoby – who helped Chicago North Shore go forward better and thus better retain possession. Atlanta’s opportunities with ball in hand were limited but the defense did remain stout. The question will be whether Atlanta can wed those two halves – a fast start and a continually building second half – for nationals.
“We’re as prepared as we will be. There’s nothing left we can do. There’s no magic skill we’ll pick up,” Chou said.
Only Chou and Lara Gartner were on the 2014 team that last competed at the WPL championship semifinals, so there isn’t much experience with this stage of play at this level. However, with the large amount of Life University and DI Elite/NIRA alumnae flooding the ranks, there is experience with high-pressure championship games, so that will help in Friday’s semifinal against hometown Glendale at 5:30 p.m. MT.
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