Who doesn’t love an Army-Navy grudge match? /// Photo courtesy Army West Point Athletics •
There are some mighty good games to watch this weekend, and here’s a selection that we’ll be following closely:
HIGH SCHOOL
The always highly anticipated showdown between Divine Savior Holy Angels (DSHA) and Catholic Memorial occurs Sunday at 6 p.m. CDT for the Wisconsin state championship. The Dashers are looking to reclaim the state title from the Crusaders, and looked strong in their 33-0 non-league contest earlier this fall. A full state of games between 10 teams will occur at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex. Third is between Oak Creek and Brookfield.
COLLEGE
There are four excellent friendlies lined up, two of which are DI Elite playoff rematches. BYU travels to Central Washington, which has played more and better competition that the Cougars at this point in the season. Just last weekend, the Wildcats battled Quinnipiac to a 19-12 win. The always exciting Life vs. Lindenwood match goes down in Missouri. These two have played each other a bunch in their short existence as programs, and they’re always good games.
DI Notre Dame College and DII champion Davenport are the best in Ohio. In addition to bragging right, this game is important to Panthers, which haven’t been challenged yet this fall. The Falcons on the other hand have impressed in wins over Life and Army recently. And then of course there’s the age-old rivalry between Army and Navy. The Black Knights are traveling to Navy’s newly christened rugby facility in Maryland, and then will host fellow academy team Air Force in West Point two weeks later.
Playoffs: The four Tri-State teams that received byes last weekend will host their respective quarterfinal matches this weekend. Three of the four semifinalists will be guaranteed berths to the fall Round of 32.
Capital will decide its quarterfinalists this weekend, but the big game to watch is Towson vs. UMBC. Both have clinched post-season berths, but this weekend’s game will break one team’s undefeated record. Also watch Mary Washington vs. William & Mary. The latter follows an NSCRO playoff pathway but has been beating the DII teams this fall.
More games of interest: St. Joseph has been on the watch list and its game against Kutztown this weekend will speak to the team’s strength. Ithaca and Geneseo will further sort the top quartet in Upstate New York. And Roger Williams vs. Providence College will help answer: Who’s next in line behind St. Michael’s in Rugby Northeast?
CLUB
Women’s Premier League’s San Diego and ORSU delayed their Week 5 match until this Saturday. During that off-weekend, a Surfers-fueled San Diego Galaxy won USA Touch nationals in Florida. San Diego’s back on the road to Oregon, but regardless of the outcome, will advance to the championship semifinals in November.
Looking forward to the Austin vs. Houston Area (HARC) game, a rematch of the Red River final last year. The difference of course is that Red River is fielding separate DI and DII leagues, so the DI runner-up will no longer be the DII representative at nationals. Also watch a friendly crossover between DII Harrisburg and DI Pittsburgh. We ranked Harrisburg #2 among active teams, and a good performance against the Angels will reinforce its spot.