Oconomowoc won its first-ever DII game. / Photo: Emily Manske
This season, TRB is writing the women’s portion of USA Rugby’s weekly club updates. The following is pulled from the original article, which includes the men’s review. Additionally, the italicized portion is additional.
ATLANTIC NORTH
Monmouth (3-0) is the only undefeated team in the DII Empire GU, but Brooklyn (52-7 vs. Union), Morris (66-0 vs. Long Island), Uticuse (28-0 vs. Danbury) and Village Lions (31-5 vs. New Haven) picked up bonus-point wins on the weekend. Leading scorers included Morris inside center Emma Ferraro and Brooklyn wing Margaret Ewen, who scored four and five tries apiece.
In DII New England, attention focused on Worcester vs. Portland, a match that featured several lead changes and a single-digit decision. The Shamrocks went up early through Ashley Walker and then Portland responded with three-straight tries. Worcester matched the output with consecutive scores from Walker, Laura Hetherman and Laurin Harvey, before Portland surged again. A final converted try afforded the 31-24 win to the Shamrocks. In other results, Albany beat Charles River 50-5, and Providence forfeited to Burlington due to numbers.
In New England’s Division III, South Shore won its first-ever league match: 40-29 over Seacoast.
“The girls are tough,” South Shore coach Paul Lenaghan said. “We went ahead two tries and then allowed them to score three tries in a row. We spent most of the second half trying to regain the lead and with 11 minutes to go, we were ahead by two and then won by 11.
“Oh my goodness,” Lenaghan laughed as he recalled the team’s reaction to its first league win. “For those 6-7 players who have been showing up to practice for years, in the rain, in the winter, with no team – for them to experience playing in a jersey with 15 players, to experience winning, to score and have 14 other players congratulate you – you can’t buy that. They were absolutely hyper.”
MID-ATLANTIC
Division II produced three lopsided victories, while Division III saw more parity. Severn River improved to 2-0 with a 65-12 win over Northeast Philadelphia. Of the nine players who scored tries, only outside center Alyson McCarty doubled up. Flyhalf Katharine Walston was influential in undefeated Doylestown’s 41-5 win over Norfolk, logging three tries, while scrumhalf Samantha Tretter led Phoenixville in its 66-21 win over Chesapeake with four tries. See full results.
Doylestown captain Grayce Fjeld on Saturday’s win and the team’s status:
Norfolk had to travel pretty far and was still able to put up a big fight. We have a lot of returning players but we also have been playing around with positions and versatility so there is a bit of a learning curve out there for some of us (I’m a 10-year forward turned center!).
This season has seen the return of our flyhalf, Katie Walston, who is always a real difference-maker on the field. Unfortunately we weren’t able to capitalize on her efforts as much as we should have in the first half but by the second half we had worked out some kinks and the line was connecting much better. Our defense looked fairly good overall and our fullback, Cait Rycek, was able to stop just about everyone that broke the line. Our forwards played a tough game as Norfolk’s team is pack-heavy.
Depth is an invaluable asset and it’s something that we’ve been working towards. We have a lot of returning players including a lot of people who have entered the season ready to step it up and prove they deserve a starting spot. Some standouts from Saturday were our hook, Maddie Groninger, who has the fastest foot this side of the Mississippi and was able to steal a number of defensive scrums. Prop Ali Dowdy, flanker Lindsey Allebach and lock Erin Brosius all had standout games, while the biggest influence on the game came from the way the pack played together. Constant support and innovation in the forwards made all the difference on Saturday.
DIII Wilmington trailed York & Lancaster by only four points with seven minutes left in regulation, but then a scoring spree produced a 48-27 win to the Pennsylvania squad. Flanker Kelsey Miller and wing Colleen Herbert had multi-try days. Philadelphia led South Jersey until the 30th minute, and then a Jamie Lynn Fortuna penalty kick changed the lead for good. Outside center Jenelle Fuller scored four tries in the 34-21 win, while Philly’s Rebecca Silver accounted for 16 points. See full North results. In the South pool, Frederick and NOVA were tied 17-all at halftime, but the former pulled away with second-half tries from Morgan Howell, Alicia Wojcik and Lacy Ames, who also kicked the extras: 36-17 the final. See full South results.
MIDWEST
Metropolis and Chicago Lions are both 2-0-1 in Division I, playing to a 12-12 draw last Saturday. Defense featured in the first half, which nearly evolved without a score, until Stephanie Alliev broke free for a Valkyries try right before the half. Whitney Swenson converted for the 7-0 lead, and then approximately 10 minutes after the break, No. 8 Katherine Weber scored for a 12-0 edge. In the final 15 minutes, Devon Gold set up Rachel Grecky for a score and No. 8 Aurora Macek picked from the scrum for the second try. Kelley Hirt’s conversion was good, and there the game ended. On the other side of the bracket, Detroit beat Wisconsin 24-3.
Division II was all lopsided results. The three East Gold victors – Buffalo, North Buffalo and Pittsburgh Forge – outscored their opponents 185-10. East Green’s Fort Wayne beat Grand Rapids 38-7, while Columbus beat Dayton 74-5. In the West, Palmer College and Twin Cities combined to outscore the Chicago Sirens and Minneapolis Menagerie, respectively, 132-7. The closest game across the region occurred between Oconomowoc and County Will Morrigans: 29-5 to the Wisconsin side.
“We were very excited to come out of it with our first league match win in team history,” enthused Oconomowoc captain Katie McNeil. “We have been building all year for our first opportunity to play in the D2 league this season. … We are so proud of the way our ladies worked together as a team, and we are having a lot of fun playing rugby together.”
PACIFIC NORTH
In the Pacific Northwest GU, Bend picked up another win, defeating South Sound 29-10, and Eugene downed Boise United 60-3. Portland held ORSU to one score in its 29-5 win. See full results.
SOUTH
For much of this DII Carolinas/Georgia GU game, Augusta and Charleston stayed win a single digit of each other. Augusta scrumhalf Owen Crosland was lethal for Augusta, accounting for 18 points (2T, 4C), and helping the Georgia side to a 33-27 win. See full results.