slide 1

NOTE: Only paying subscribers have access to locked content. LEARN MORE.

Bay Area Battle Doesn’t Disappoint

  • 01 Sep 2019
  • 302 Views

Berkeley’s Tonya Wessman moments from scoring / Photo: Jackie Finlan

There’s only one place in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) where two teams are in very close proximity to each other: San Francisco Bay Area. On Saturday, WPL newcomer Life West and founding member Berkeley played their first West Conference match against each other, and the outcome is hopefully an indicator of an intense, yet fruitful, rivalry that will drive the standard of play even higher.

“We’re just really excited to be here. We have a lot to learn and a lot to work on, but it’s just good to get out and hit hard and have to play against people who are so good,” Life West captain Nikki Kenyon summed it up.


9 vs. 9 – Kenyon and Lin / Photo: Jackie Finlan

The Gladiatrix owned the opening 10 minutes, as a knock-on in the kickoff handed them possession in good attacking territory. After a few phases against an aggressive Berkeley defense, flyhalf Sara Parsons sent a perfectly weighted cross-field kick to Amy Naber Bonte running on. The center made the fingertip grab and dotted down in the corner in the second minute of play, 5-0.

Minutes later, play broke down near midfield as the All Blues deployed a disruptive defense, but then a penalty allowed Life West to reset and move the ball quickly, finishing in Hope Rogers’ hands out wide for the try. Wing Karmin Macedo added the extras for the 12-0 lead. Scrumhalf Kenyon then attacked a seam off the ruck and worked the 2-on-1 with Naber in open field for the team’s third try in 10 minutes. Macedo added the conversion for the 19-0 lead.


Rogers on the run / Photo: Jackie Finlan

Berkeley got an important score quickly afterward, as lock Ceara Lafferty plucked the ball out of the ruck and quickly moved it to Laura Thacker on the wing for the corner try, 19-5. That score allowed the All Blues to check themselves, and parity followed.

Shortly after the 20-minute water break, Berkeley got into good attacking territory after Evan Hoese sent a penalty kick to inside Life West’s 22. A perfectly executed lineout developed into a driving maul, which Katy Augustyn nearly dotted down. Flanker Tonya Wessman was quick in support, picked from the base and dove over the line, 19-10.


Ceara Lafferty / Photo: Jackie Finlan

“We just got a little bit disconnected. We lost our way a little,” Kenyon said of the second-quarter shift. “We let those strike runners off the hook a little bit, not getting into their space and taking that away from them. And when they have ball in hand they’re just so threatening, so for us it’s working more as a unit to close the line.”

The next 15 minutes were dense with highlights – from Bulou Mataitoga turning over the ball and swerving through traffic, to Rogers chasing down Thacker on a breakaway. As the half approached, a not-straight lineout turned into a Berkeley scrum, which drew a free kick penalty. Berkeley scrumhalf Shelby Lin, who again deployed a tactful box kick all day and tackled everything, chipped over the defense and kept possession. After a few forward phases at the line, the ball went weak to Mataitoga, who shipped the ball to Thacker for the try: 19-15 to Life West.


Rose Russell and Shelby Lin / Photo: Jackie Finlan

“We talked about just playing for each other,” Kenyon recounted the halftime chat. “Sometimes it’s easy to play individual rugby, especially when you have a lot of talented people on your team, but that’s not really what we’re about or what we’re trying to achieve. We just came together and said, ‘Look, we need to play for the person next to us. If we want to win, that’s how we’re going to do it.’”

In the third quarter, both sides made good use of penalties in their attacking ends. Life West went up first after wing Neariah Persinger got close to the line and did well to hold onto possession while she was swarmed. The ball recycled to the forwards, who after a few phases, put prop Catie Benson across for five. Minutes later, the All Blues used that same momentum to launch phases inside the 22, and flanker Christina Ramos eventually raced around the defense for the try, 24-20.


Catie Benson / Photo: Jackie Finlan

“We never panicked when the game was close. That’s what’s nice about us on the field: We stay calm,” Kenyon said of the back and forth. “We know that if we stick to what we do best we’ll get the ball back on defense or we’ll go forward and score tries. We knew that it was tight and we had to put another score on the board to distance that, but overall it felt like we were in control, even though we knew we had to work hard to maintain that control.”

Meanwhile, both teams started working their benches, and the game saw WPL newcomers like AK Pedraza step on at scrumhalf and wing for Life West, as well as New York transfer Kristen Siano replace Sam Miller at flyhalf. Siano sent a clearance kick from midfield to Life West’s 22 and over fullback Leti Hingano’s head. Initially it looked like a good choice as the defense swarmed, but the WPL first-year gathered the ball calmly and then methodically started shaking tacklers until breaking into open field. Wing Maggie Simpson was on the chase but had to cross from the sideline, and Hingano had the pace to evade Simpson’s final lunge at the try line, 29-20.


Leti Hingano chased by Maggie Simpson / Photo: Jackie Finlan

There were still 12 minutes left in the match, and Berkeley had demonstrated that it was capable of engineering a turn-around. But Life West had the legs to finish out the match, and got help with valuable subs like Tiara Littleton. The flanker added a nice pop to the forward game and reinforced a solid scrum.

“I was really happy with the forwards. They were amazing this game and the scrum was incredible,” Kenyon said of pleasant surprises. “We have a coach, [Paul Keeler], who has been working really hard to get our technical body shapes in the scrum right, and we dominated there, and that’s why we kept taking the scrum penalties. It’s something we take a lot of pride in and it really showed today.”


Bulou Mataitoga / Photo: Jackie Finlan

The Gladiatrix stole a Berkeley scrum in the All Blues’ end, and after a couple of penalties to stay in good territory, used another scrum to set up a sixth try. After an attempt at a weak side pick, the ball moved back to the middle of the field for Littleton to carry to the line: 36-20 with Hali Deters’ conversion.

Life West improved to 3-0 in the West Conference, Berkeley is now 1-1, and both earned a bonus point for tries scored. USA 15s head coach Rob Cain and assistant coach Richard Ashfield were both in attendance, and were on their feet in the stands the entire match – that’s how good it was. Both relished the intensity and quality of the match [stay tuned for Cain’s interview], and the league eagerly awaits the rematch on Sept. 28.


Kedra Davis / Photo: Jackie Finlan

In other WPL news, San Diego (1-1) defeated ORSU (0-3) 48-7, and in the East, Atlanta (2-1) beat Twin Cities (1-2) 45-22. Chicago North Shore and New York play on Sunday.

In Week Four, Life West will head to San Diego and Berkeley will host Glendale.

WPL Berkeley LifeWest

Article Categories:
SR CLUB

Leave a Reply