It’s no easy feat to field two club sides that participate in separate, and sometimes concurrent, competitions. Ask teams like Twin Cities, Glendale, Atlanta and Austin, among others, and they’ll highlight the need for superb roster management skills, a lot of coordination and flexibility. But the net result can be a club that speaks to a wider range of player goals and abilities, and provides more and different opportunities.
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Glendale is in that space right now, as its WPL side is readying for the Nov. 1-3 national championship at home, and its DI side is already three games deep into the new Frontier Red River league. The competition is another step in reorganizing the DI landscape, moving from smaller disparate leagues to four larger regions. The DI East is in its second season and the Midwest is as is. The final region that is to be confirmed will involve the west coast teams (and maybe Seattle?!).
The Merlins, along with Denver Black Ice, have front-loaded their schedules, as the spring in Colorado can still be frigid and snowy. That puts a strain on player availability in the fall, and that was a concern last weekend, when the Merlins traveled to the Utah Vipers, who were playing their first league of the season.
“We traveled to Salt Lake City with only 18 players, many of which who were in new positions and combinations,” DI Merlins captain Jess Dombrowski explained. “You would not have known it by the way that our team game together, which I think was the highlight of the weekend. We were able to connect, adjust, and motivate each other to keep moving forward. Through every scrum, breakdown and minute of the game, we were resilient, leaning on each other for support.”
Halfbacks Dombrowski and Leann Lam directed the game and led a squad that is relatively young – whether in age or in number of seasons with Glendale. A handful of players – first-years Akweley Okine, Caitlin Weigel and Allison Schrenker, and Katelyn Houston – have seen playing time in the WPL this season, while seasoned players like Justine Wypych and Lam brought former WPL experience to the group.
Malissa Tabbey, who was one of a few players with multi-season time with the DI side, opened up the scoring and kicked off a ferocious battle with several lead changes.
“Our match was one of the best competitions between Utah and Glendale in the last few years,” Dombrowski noted. “The physicality was constant, and the energy on both sides was palpable. We went back and forth for most of the match, and it came down to the wire.”
Glendale and Utah scored six tries apiece. Prop Weigel (2), lock Tabbey, and wings Wypych (2) and Elizabeth Dominguez dotted down for the Merlins, while the Vipers got their tries through front rows Hannah Makasini (2), Ana Perez and Mary Fisi, flanker Sophie Karlsson and inside center Dallas McKee.
“Utah challenged us around the breakdown more than other team we have faced, and their pick-and-go mentality is something we had not seen yet this season so we had to adjust accordingly,” Dombrowski talked challenges. “The last 20-30 minutes of the match were all about game management and situational strategy. Looking forward, the lessons and approaches that we utilized here are a very large part of what we will need to capitalize on moving into our future competitions.”
In the final three minutes of the match, Glendale produced the final lead change, one that was made possible by Justine Perl’s three conversions to the Utah Vipers’ one (via Shannon Woolley): 36-32 to the visitors.
“Knowing that we achieved this with such a fresh-faced team now, makes me even more ecstatic for what the spring season, and the future of this team, hold,” Dombrowski enthused. “Our rookies and vets came to play, and showed out, and I thoroughly believe that we are a team you should keep your eyes on.”
Glendale currently leads the standings at 3-0 and will play one more league game this weekend against the Dallas Harlequins at home.