Photos: Jackie Finlan
The Women’s Premier League (WPL) is officially in the second half of the regular season, and Week 6 pit round-one opponents against each other for the first rematches of the fall. Glendale and Life West met on Treasure Island in San Francisco, and treated the sidelines to a thrilling two-point contest.
RELATED: Sept. 21-22 Scores
The teams’ first meeting marked Life West’s debut in the WPL, and the Gladiatrix celebrated with a 43-21 in Glendale and went through the first round of pool play undefeated. The Merlins also won the next three games, and head coach Luke Gross indicated that a lot of team growth had occurred during that time.
Intent on capitalizing on those gains, Glendale brought the intensity – both on the pitch and audibly on the sidelines – on Saturday. The Merlins focused on pressure and were rewarded with a penalty opportunity in McKenzie Hawkins’ range. The inside center slotted the three-pointer and was perfect off the tee all day.
Still in the first quarter, a scrum penalty in Glendale’s favor allowed Carmen Farmer to go quickly from the mark. The No. 8 went weak, lined up the defense, and then hit Kaitlyn Broughton along the sideline. The wing got through everyone for the try, and Hawkins’ conversion afforded the 10-0 lead.
Minutes later, Glendale reined in an errant Life West lineout throw and formed a good maul to suck in the defense. Scrumhalf Carly Waters and Farmer teamed up again, the ball swung from sideline to sideline, and wing Beatriz Amaral, with a lovely turn of pace, finished in the corner. Hawkins made the stellar sideline conversion for the 17-0 lead after 25 minutes.
“We just played like a team in every piece we did,” Gross said of the overall performance. “Defensively we were in Life West’s face the whole time, and we knew if we gave them any room to do anything – they are a very dangerous team, so we couldn’t. Our defensive line speed coming forward as a unit, our attack looking for the offload, looking for the next pass to get past and behind them defensively – and you can’t do that as an individual. You have to do it as a team.”
Through the first half of the season, Life West has only trailed in one other game – against San Diego, for two minutes. The Gladiatrix were flustered that opening quarter, but they showed how potent they are with a little bit of possession.
Not long after the restart, Life West took a lineout near midfield. It was a little static as play moved laterally across the pitch, but then fullback Leti Hingano turned it up-field at the right moment to pierce the defense and score. Just before the break, the home side was playing with a lot of possession in Glendale’s end, and prop Hope Rogers was setting up on the wing. A fearsome thing to behold, Rogers took a final pass in space and bumped off of USA teammate Gabby Cantorna for the try, 17-10 into the break.
Life West kept motoring and two minutes into the second half, Elizabeth Cairns set up Neariah Persinger nicely for a sideline rumble, and then the recycle moved to Amy Naber Bonte for the centered try. Hingano converted for the 17-17 scoreline.
The Gladiatrix took a knock when No. 8 Jennifer Sever came off the pitch with a potentially season-ending injury. The next 20 minutes saw the teams unload in an attempt to take over the lead, and Glendale did an exceptionally good job at stealing the ball in contact and on the ground. It nullified some of Life West’s bursts and kept the scoreline dormant.
“We handled it like a semi-professional team. We hunkered down,” Gross said of Glendale’s response to Life West’s surges. “We endured their moments and they had many of them, because they’re a solid team. And we continued to do what we do as a team and it showed. We came back. We got the ball back or turned it over because we just stayed consistent. Very proud of the ladies.”
The final 15 minutes were a flurry. Another effective eightman pick from the scrum set Glendale up for a series of forward punches at the line. Lock Jenny Kronish took the final pop for the diveover try, 24-17 with Hawkins’ conversion.
Right from the restart, Life West responded and showcased those fast phases for which the team is known. Another Persinger break on the sideline was followed by defense-spreading passes inside the 22. The ball worked back to the wing for the easy overload try, 24-22.
Both teams worked their benches to keep the pace high, but inevitably there were bouts of broken play. Life West was looking to run its way out of its end but a pass hit the ground and reserve Allie Schrenker scooped it for a quick return. Phases to the line followed and forward reserve Chatelier Amandine capped the series with a diveover try, 31-22 with Hawkins’ extras.
“We’re very lucky. We have a very deep bench and we knew there would be moments for everybody to get on and do what they needed to do,” Gross said. “And to be quite frank, we could have started the bench and put the starters on the reserves, and I think we would have been just as strong.”
Life West kept pushing as the clock ticked away, and flyhalf Sara Parsons manipulated the outside defense for a line-break. Cairns was in support for the pass back inside and got to the five meter, where a penalty followed shortly afterward. Rogers tapped quickly through the mark for the try. Hingano hit the conversion for the 31-29 scoreline.
There was time for one more restart but the game ended on a Life West knock-on. Both teams are now 4-1, and the Gladiatrix lead the WPL West standings due to bonus points.
“Every match we play is as important as this one,” Gross looked toward the rest of the season. “You can’t look past any team, regardless of standings, because this is the top level of rugby for the women’s game here domestically. We’re going out to win every single one of them.”
In other WPL West news, Berkeley improved to 3-2 with a 34-7 win over ORSU in Portland. In the East, Atlanta won its rematch against Beantown, 34-12, and at the time of print, Twin Cities led Chicago North Shore 35-0 at the half.