The Rugby Breakdown produces the women’s portion of USA Rugby’s weekly club updates. To read the full article (with the men’s coverage), click here.
ATLANTIC NORTH
The Empire GU contested its penultimate round of the regular season and two upsets marked the weekend. New Haven bested Monmouth 52-7, and saw Gabby Dixon and Kearney Worthington score three tries apiece in the victory, and Long Island beat Uticuse 36-19 for its first win of the season. Two shutouts occurred on the other side of the league. Flanker Emma Ferraro scored three tries to pace Morris in a 54-0 win over Danbury, and the Village Lions scored seven tries from seven players in its 37-0 win over Union.
New England has ended its regular season and used the gap week for crossover matches between Division II and Division III teams. These matches do not affect the playoffs, however, it’s noteworthy that DIII South Shore defeated DII Charles River 41-17.
EAST (DI)
Raleigh and the D.C. Furies finished within six points of each other, an outcome that afforded the latter its first standings points of the season. The Venom banked the 24-18 win after tries from Kelly Mackenzie, Shawn Gatewood (2), Lolita Galdones and two conversions from Chelsea Garber. The Furies scored through Arielle Reid, Gloria Cho and Sam Moorhead, who also added a penalty.
NOVA improved to 3-0 with a 55-0 win over Boston, now 2-2. The home side scored the majority of its points in the first half before working its bench, and saw wing Emily Fulbrook lead the way with three tries. Ariel Johnson added two scores, while Stephanie Barros, Avery Rain and Michelle Schneider also dotted down. Scrumhalf Bri Kim kicked 10 points in conversions.
Nov. 2 will be the league’s final round of the fall before resurfacing in March 2020.
FRONTIER
St. Louis and the Kansas City Jazz were undefeated heading into last weekend’s match, and the Sabres emerged with a 34-21 victory to keep that perfect record intact. St. Louis charged to a 19-0 halftime lead with tries from Amy Spafford, Grace Hovde and Anna Albrecht (who also kicked the conversions). The Jazz surged after the break with three tries in the third quarter, broken up by a second score from Hovde and Albrecht conversion (26-21 St. Louis). Outside center Dominesha Newton then scored in minute 61 to give St. Louis a 31-21 lead, and there the scoreboard held until Hovde added a game-ending penalty kick.
“The win is nice, but it’s not as important as the game itself,” St. Louis coach Amy Holtsclaw noted. “We’ve made some changes structurally, which may have played to our advantage, but playing the Jazz is the strong competition necessary to show us where improvements are still needed.”
MIDWEST
Focus centered on the Division II East playoffs, which pit the top-two teams from both the Gold and Green pools against each other. The closest match occurred in Upstate New York, where Buffalo hosted Columbus in a 19-17 victory.
“Columbus played tough for 80 minutes. They are very tactical in their strategy, calling scrums on penalties and kicking for touch, playing to their strengths. Their scrum was tough and they gave us fits in the lineout,” Buffalo head coach Jerry Hann lauded the Squirrels. “They were very good at their own breakdown, arriving at speed and securing well. Defensively we found very few gaps to exploit.”
Hann praised Buffalo’s response, matching in the scrum and adjusting its lineout to form a better attacking platform. The defense came through with some key turnovers, and the kicking game helped break Columbus’ defense. That’s how Buffalo’s first two tries from Emily Stefanski and Katryna McKenna evolved.
Columbus tied the game at 12 with 15 minutes to go and then took a 17-12 lead at minute 70.
“It’s wasn’t until late with fresh legs that we were able to get into our game plan producing the winning try,” Hann recalled Hallie Booth’s score. “Our captain, Jenna Hutzler, has been kicking well all season and her conversions were the difference.”
Hutzler slotted the game-winning conversion, and the team held on for the 19-17 win.
“This is my third year with the club and I’ve always felt that their resolve, when backed up against the wall, is bar none,” Hann enthused. “What I learned was that our rookies have that same resolve! Lock Ashley Nice made huge tackles and put us on the front foot every time she handled the ball. Our finishing wing, Hallie Booth, scored the winning try and is our try leader on the season.”
Buffalo will now play Cincinnati, which defeated Pittsburgh Forge 27-3 in the East semifinals, for the East title. The victor will then play the West champion for the Midwest title and berth to DII nationals.
There were two forfeits and two shutouts in the DII West last weekend. Milwaukee Scylla beat the Chicago Sirens 48-0 and the Minneapolis Menagerie topped County Will Morrigans 36-0. Palmer College leads the standings at 6-0 at the end of the regular season, followed by Scylla (5-1), Twin Cities (4-2) and Chicago Sirens (2-3-1).
Division I has concluded its regular season, and the top-two teams – Chicago Lions and Metropolis – ended with victories. The Lions beat Detroit 33-10, and only fullback Rachel Grecky scored twice for the Chicago side. The Valkyries and Chicago were tied at 7-7 until the 65th minute, when Hannah Kirkman snapped the stalemate with a try. Stephanie Alliev, who scored the team’s first try, dotted down shortly afterward, and Abigail Smith ended the day with back-to-back scores in the 29-7 win. The Chicago Lions and Metropolis Valkyries will now contest the DI Midwest championship on Nov. 9.
MID-ATLANTIC
Five of six active DII teams earned standings points last weekend, as big scores came out of the three matches. Phoenixville and Harrisburg were tied at 12 through minute 30, and then the Harlots’ Michelle Kirk (2), Melissa Pattison and Lindsay Graves scored in quick succession for a 33-12 lead with Lauren Shissler’s conversions. White Horse didn’t back down in the second half, but Harrisburg kept its lead intact, 52-36 the final.
Doylestown is the first to 5-0 and did it with a 54-26 win over Northeast Philadelphia. After an early deficit courtesy of Hannah Bratzler and Sarah Kofoed, the Dragons rallied with six-straight tries from Lilianne Riley, Cait Rycek (2), Madeline Groninger (2) and Jaime Malarchik. Katharine Walston added 17 points on a try and six conversions.
Brandywine got its first win of the season in a big way, downing Chesapeake 95-7. Lots of Riot players scored, and outside center Jenna Ponto led with five tries.
SOUTH
Camp Lejeune got its first win of the Carolinas-Georgia GU season, downing Columbia 36-25 and getting a big performance out of prop Chyna Hamm, who scored tries and kicked conversions. Savannah improved to 4-0 with its 64-15 win over Augusta. Of the eight try-scorers, Danielle Deshaies and Riketa Granville doubled up in the try zone, and Allison Kurtz kicked seven conversions.
In the True South, soggy weather and strong defenses marked the Nashville vs. Memphis match, producing a low-scoring game that was decided on a game-ending penalty kick. The Flamingoes took a 7-0 lead at minute 15 when Kelly Cockroft crossed for a try and Alex Beckett converted. Nashville answered in minute 23 with an Ireland Duncan try and Olivia Byrd conversion. And there the scoreline sat.
Memphis was in scoring position as the clock wore down, but then the game halted for approximately 30 minutes as Nashville tended to an injured player.
“Coming back into those final six minutes, shaken up from our friend’s injury, trying to hold our defense while physically that close to Memphis scoring – that was mentally tough,” Nashville president Abi Jenkins recalled. “But it was like a fire was lit under all of us.”
Nashville held defensively, forced and won a scrum, and then kicked the ball downfield. Nashville later recovered the ball, kicked again, and drew a penalty at Memphis’ 22 meter. Bryd lined it up and kicked the penalty for 10-7 win.
“In those six minutes we turned a penalty against us on our five to a centered penalty for us on their 22,” Jenkins noted. It was a very emotional end to an emotional game, but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of my team.”