USA Rugby: Club Recap

The Rugby Breakdown produces the women’s portion (below) of USA Rugby’s weekly club recaps. For the full article, which includes Evan Lappen’s summary of the men’s competitions, click here.

FRONTIER RED RIVER

The Frontier Red River is a new DI competition this season and involves six teams from Colorado, Texas and Utah. Teams in the same competitive region (CR) play each other home and away, and then play teams from the other CR once before playoffs.

In October, Houston Athletic (HARC) played Glendale (50-43 L) and Black Ice (34-22 W) in a double-header weekend that aligned with the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Glendale. On Saturday, HARC traveled to Dallas for the Harlequins’ season-opener, and won 67-0. Flanker Callie Flynn and inside center Bonnie Richardson were named MVPs and scored two tries apiece, while outside center Nadira Smith dotted down three times. Flyhalf K.C. Curl (2), prop Nick James and scrumhalf Barbie Blair added tries, while fullback Delia Nava kicked six conversions.

PACIFIC NORTH: NORCAL

San Francisco Golden Gate and Berkeley are both undefeated in DII NorCal and will play each other on Feb. 22. The former banked a forfeit win against Santa Rosa last weekend, while the All Blues bettered Life West 46-5.

Berkeley built a 22-0 halftime lead through Jazmyne Spear (2), Teru Baker and Elena Clark, and Kat Chasakara added a conversion. The Gladiatrix put down the first points of the second half through Danielle Ioramo, but the All Blues surged in the final 15 minutes of the match. Spear, Briana Riley (2) and Erika Granger all scored tries, and Clark added a pair of conversions for the win.

After a close loss to Berkeley on Jan. 18, Sacramento rebounded with a massive 85-5 win over San Jose. Flanker Caroline Sequeira led all point-scorers with 29 on three tries and seven conversions. Outside center Miriama Marawa scored five tries on the day, while No. 8 Liz Danielson contributed 11 points on a try and three conversions. Fullback Lexia Reynolds (2), flanker Makena McCluskey, scrumhalf Denita Hubbard and reserve wing Bianca Brau also scored tries. The Amazons travel to Golden Gate this weekend, and San Jose heads north to face Life West.

PACIFIC SOUTH

The Pacific South finally had all three divisions in motion last weekend. In Division I, Tempe and Santa Monica played to a single-digit decision, while San Diego shut out Belmont Shore 82-0 for its second win of the spring.

Santa Monica and Tempe were never more than 14 points from each other, and by game’s end, the Dolphins scored five tries, and the visitors scored six. In the end, Tempe triumphed 40-33.

“Our win this weekend was definitely a team win. We worked well together executing our offense and communicated well defensively,” Tempe co-captain and No. 8 Nina Freelander praised the effort. “Santa Monica is a tough team and came out hard, but we were able to spread the field and take advantage of holes. Flyhalf Heleni Kuma had a great performance, breaking through their defensive line for a total of four tries. Whitney Diem and Lindsey Mahoney both added a try. Four conversions by fullback Sam Santos and one by Lindsey Mahoney made the final score 40-33.”

Santa Monica earned two bonus points in the close loss, and got its scores through Adriana Conrad-Forrest, Nina Poloukhine, Molly Bradbury and Desiree Leaupepe. The league is idle this weekend and resumes on Feb. 15 with the San Diego and Santa Monica rematch. On Jan. 25, the Surfers beat the Dolphins 38-22.

In Duarte, Calif., DII Pasadena and Las Vegas played to a 7-all halftime. No. 8 Celine Deneuve scored first for the Royals and fullback Kristine Nakada converted, and then the Slots responded with a converted try approximately 10 minutes later. Deneuve scored shortly after the break, but the separation really took hold in the final 20. Three quick tries from Asia Garcia, Sonya Livingston and Janna Henao were all converted by Nakada, and put the home side up 33-7 with 10 minutes to play. Las Vegas sent Genevieve Kalahiki into the try zone, and Tyler Malcom converted, but Pasadena had the last say with a Nakada penalty: 36-14 the final.

There are only three teams in SoCal’s DII this year, and Old Pueblo will travel to Pasadena in week two.

Tons of anticipation built around the DIII match between Santa Barbara and Phoenix, which were 2-0 heading into their league game Saturday.

“We were slightly nervous coming into the game against Santa Barbara because we knew they were going to present a tough challenge,” Phoenix flyhalf Jessica Carpenter confessed. “But we also knew that this was going to be a great test for our team and we knew we had prepared well for it. We just had to execute.

“The match was very physical right off the bat,” Carpenter continued. “With only 15 players and no subs, we knew that we had to be strategic about how we were going to play the game. Defensively, we were both very strong. We bashed it out in the middle of the field for quite some time. It finally took a tricky switch play between me and center Jessica Rexrode to get ourselves on the board.”

Phoenix added a try from Sydney Dudley, and Carpenter kicked both conversions for the 14-0 halftime lead. Santa Barbara scored quickly after the break through prop Susanne Saldivar, and then answered Phoenix prop Karlee Nyborg’s score with a try from Katie Janus. Phoenix led Santa Barbara 19-10 with the entire fourth quarter to play. In the final five minutes, Janus scored again, and the Mermaids trailed by four.

Phoenix didn’t have the luxury of a bench, and players like Mariah Sealander as well as Nyborg grit their teeth through injuries to get the game done.

“We continued to push through the pain and left it all out on the field,” Carpenter commended the squad. “Toward the end of the game, it was all about time management. We play our best when we control the pace of the game. Santa Barbara made a couple great pushes at the end, but we were able to make our tackles and hold them off.”

Phoenix won 19-15, and the Mermaids earned the bonus point in the loss. Both get a break this weekend, while San Fernando Valley is scheduled to travel to Riverside.

RED RIVER

There was only one game in DII last weekend, and it was a goodie between Dallas Athletic (DARC) and Bay Area (BARC). The visitors, BARC, scored two minutes into the match, but then the half went quiet in terms of the scoreboard.

“Even though we put points on the board first, we struggled to find our groove and gain momentum throughout the first 40 minutes,” BARC forwards captain Lauren Patterson explained. “After halftime, we came back out and did a better job of securing rucks and taking advantage of space out wide. It wasn’t our best team performance, but we rallied in the second half thanks to our reserves coming in fresh and turning it on when we needed them.”

At the 60-minute mark, BARC outside center Veronica Houck scored, 10-0, but then a penalty try awarded to DARC wing Jessica Ellis tightened the game up. It wasn’t’ until the final five minutes that BARC scrumhalf Elizabeth Clementi dotted down for the 15-7 final.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t play the game we intended to,” BARC coach Amy Cheesman lamented. “We had a hard time adjusting to the messiness in the ruck and struggled to keep continuous possession for the first half. We are putting that game behind us and are ready to refocus and put in some serious work this coming week. Having four away games in a row is challenging to say the least, and we are excitedly looking forward to our first home game of 2020 at the end of February! I am so proud of our players for consistently showing up and working to be better for themselves and their teammates.”

SOUTH: FLORIDA

It was another thrilling weekend in DII Florida. After tying Fort Miami last week, Orlando posted another draw this week, this time against Jacksonville. Orlando took the first lead through a Kristi Schnepp try and Kirstaena Venter conversion, but then back-to-back scores from Sinners April Fogel and Erika Long, along with a Keina Crawford conversion, put Jacksonville on top 12-7.

Jacksonville put down another two tries from Crawford and Rachael Stabbert to accrue its 22 points by the 53rd minute, but Orlando kept working. On top of a Makaila Kowalsky try in the first half, Orlando found try-zone success through Agnes Fuerst and Julia Phillips to end the game 22-all.

Fort Miami and Tampa Bay met on the other side of the league. There were three lead changes in the middle of the first half, but Tampa Bay exited the first 40 with a 21-17 lead. No. 8 Virginia Perez, Karen Liu and Madison Militello scored Fort Miami’s tries (and Militello kicked the conversion), and Sam Black-Keels, Jessie Premet and Jesse DePaolo scored Tampa Bay’s. The difference was Robyn Oliveri’s three conversions.

The Krewe started to make some subs and then Ruth Black’s try put a little more distance on the scoreboard, 28-17 with Oliveri’s fourth conversion. At the 60th minute, Brandi Roebuck scored, and the Krewe kept refreshing the field with reserves and maintaining a solid defense. Latrisha Jarrett ended the day with a try and 40-17 win. Tampa Bay is now 2-0 in Florida and leads the standings.

“It was a slow start for both sides, but as soon as we switched on and started playing our game, we dominated,” Tampa Bay captain Black-Keels asserted. “It was very satisfying to earn a win against an opponent that has consistently held the top spot in the state for many years. The cohesion and work ethic on this team is really something special and we are so ready to use this momentum to push us even further.”

“Our club is beaming with pride in regards to this win, especially with it being on the road in Miami,” Tampa Bay president Premet added. “We aren’t even at the middle point of the regular season, but we know this club has so much potential and that we have the drive to push this club further than it has even gone before.”