The Rugby Breakdown writes the women’s portion of USA Rugby’s weekly club recaps (below). To read the full article, click here.
ATLANTIC NORTH
The top-four teams traveled to Worcester, Mass., for the DII New England championship last weekend. In the semifinals, reigning champion Providence beat Albany 32-5, and host Worcester posted a 35-5 victory on Portland. That set up a rematch of the 2018 Atlantic North final, as well as one of the closest league games this fall: a 14-10 decision to Providence in mid-October.
Sunday’s final was similarly tense, but Providence held onto the trophy with a 15-5 win over Worcester.
“This week showcased our best defense that many Providence players new and old have seen from the team,” Providence captain Tiara Mack noted. “Our small size often leads others to underestimate what we can do against bigger teams. Both days featured big hits from the Providence team and our defense was almost impenetrable, allowing only two tries over the championship weekend.
“It was all heart from every player,” Mack added. “We finally had a bench of players going into the weekend and we were able to get everyone playing time.”
Both Providence and Worcester advance to the springtime playoffs against their Empire counterparts.
Empire wrapped up its final week of league play and ended with its share of drama. Some of it was seen in the results – Monmouth held off Brooklyn 22-21, and Union edged Uticuse 18-15 – and some of it played out in the post-season plans. The Village Lions and Morris, which finished in the top half of the standings, were ruled ineligible for playoffs, and thus Uticuse and Danbury, both 3-5, will advance in their stead.
Morris was idle last weekend, but the Lions closed out the fall with an 83-0 win over Danbury. Lock Michelle Dimitri (2), flyhalf Vicky Dushku (4), No. 8 Adriana Castillo (2) and wing Caitlin Davis (2) scored multiple tries apiece, while fullback Stephanie Ruys de Perez led all scorers with 23 points on nine conversions and a try.
This weekend, #1 Monmouth will host #4 Danbury, and #2 Brooklyn will host #3 Uticuse in the GU semifinals. The winners will contest the championship on Nov. 16, and the two finalists will advance to the Atlantic North semifinals in the spring.
BC (CAN)
Seattle added another win in British Columbia’s Mainland Tier A competition, downing Abbottsford 64-12. The Saracens are now 6-0 in the Canadian league.
EAST
It was another full slate in the DI East, and two of the three decisions came down to single digits. Philadelphia capped a three-game winning streak with a 27-24 win over Charlotte, which has lost its two games by a combined four points. Philly took the first lead through Olivia Rasp but then back-to-back scores from Elizabeth Scott and Amanda Watkins put the visitors ahead (10-5). Philly rallied in the second 20, and two scores from No. 8 Lucy Dawson and another from Rasp, plus Kate Hallinan’s conversion, provided a 22-10 lead into the break.
Philadelphia enjoyed its largest lead of the game, 27-10, after Rebecca Silver scored in the 53rd minute, and then it was time for Charlotte’s comeback. Erin Satterfield and Shannon Etherson scored within minutes of each other, and Jen Moser’s two conversions made it 27-24 with the entire fourth quarter to play. Philly held on nonetheless for the win, while Charlotte earned two bonus points in the near loss.
“After a disappointing start to the fall season, we took a step back and assessed what we needed to keep in place and what we needed to move away from. We ultimately decided to step away from a stricter system and move into a more dynamic style of play that allows more movement between the forwards and backs, which has opened up a lot of options and created more opportunities for all 15 to work as one cohesive unit – plus it’s been really fun,” Philadelphia captain Becca Fagan reviewed the fall. “We knew we were moving in the right direction when we fell just a bit short against NOVA and we’ve been improving every week since. With some of the best competition in the D1 East Division, it has been extremely motivating and encouraging to see success with the new system and we’ll be carrying that with us into the spring season.”
Both of Atlanta’s senior sides – WPL and DI – were in motion last weekend, with the former finishing fourth in the nation and the latter banking a 31-27 win over visiting Boston. Both DI teams are now 2-3.
There were multiple, quick lead changes, but Atlanta enjoyed the edge for the majority of the game. Both teams spread out their scores: Akilah Guzman, Megan Steffes, Laketa Sutton, Dominique Purifoy, Sheree Collins dotted down for Atlanta, while Jillian Casey added three conversions; and Emma Santosuosso, Isabel Haber, Margaret Reiss and Italia Ieraci crossed for Boston. The visitors ended with a penalty try in the 79th minute and that afforded an extra bonus point in the close defeat.
The D.C. Furies opened up its game against NOVA with a Katherine Hanson try and Sam Moorhead conversion, but then the reigning DI national champion tightened up and ran out to a 39-7 win. Emily Fulbrook, Kayla Cook, Ariel Johnson, Stephanie Barros and Emily Wessel accounted for the tries, while Bri Kim kicked 14 points on two penalties and four conversions. The league now hibernates until mid-March 2020.
MID-ATLANTIC
Last weekend saw the two undefeated DII teams – Harrisburg and Doylestown – meet in the final week of the fall portion of the season. Doylestown pounced on an early yellow card and took a two-try lead. The Harlots answered through Nikki Snyder and Nicole Ciccarelli (12-10 with Lauren Shissler’s conversion), and then Doylestown engineered one more lead change with a third try, 15-12.
Shissler scored and converted in the 36th minute and those points put Harrisburg ahead for good. Snyder, Ciccarelli, Shissler, Alesa Tare and Michelle Kirk (2) crossed for tries, while Shissler ended the day with six conversions in the 55-27 win.
The closest game came down to James River and Northeast Philadelphia and featured two very different halves. Northeast Philly ran out to a 24-0 lead as Kelsi Beahm and Hannah Braztler scored two tries apiece and Sarah Kofoed kicked the extras. James River then launched into comeback mode and was rewarded with tries through Kristen Lucas, Kathryn Hobbs, Emily Lawson and Lucy Kilgore. With Victoria Byrd’s conversions, the teams were knotted at 24 with 20 minutes to play. In the final 10 minutes, outside center Hobbs crossed for the game-breaker, and the Byrd conversion made it 31-24 to the Virginia side.
Norfolk picked up its second win of the season with a 57-7 victory over Chesapeake. Fullback Shannon Hubbard led all point-scorers with 27 points on three tries and six conversions.
MIDWEST
The East and West leagues have named their representatives to this weekend’s Midwest championship. East Green leader Cincinnati Kelts beat East Gold’s Buffalo 48-7, while Palmer College remained undefeated in the West after a 29-7 victory over Milwaukee Scylla.
The Kelts took control of the match early on, as outside center JaLisa Elkins scored the first of three first-half tries two minutes into the game. It was nearly a shutout as Adrienne Cusick (2), Kinsey Bryant-Lees, Courtney Moore and Kathryn Waligura kept the scoreboard ticking over, and Danielle Bass and Bryant-Lees kicked conversions. But in the waning minutes, Buffalo got on the board with a converted try.
The West final evolved in similar fashion, as Palmer College wing Skyler Zawko finished off four tries and flyhalf Claire Tomashek added a fourth and two conversions for 29 points. In the final 10 minutes, however, Scylla snapped the shutout with a converted try to end its season.
Palmer College and the Cincinnati Kelts will meet in Chicago this weekend to decide the Midwest champion and representative to the DII national championship.