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Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) kicked off its second-ever season last weekend, putting all six member teams into motion. Boston, Twin Cities and the Bay Area all celebrated wins. Week 2 games occur in New York, Lisle, Ill., and Denver. [lead photo: Jade McGrath (2025) / Jackie Finlan]
Like 2025, the classic New York vs. Boston rivalry kicked off the 2026 season, as the Exiles traveled north to Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy, Mass., for a 5 p.m. kickoff Saturday. Unlike 2025, however, the Banshees banked the win: 38-19.
The Banshees won the ever-important possession and territory battles, but New York posted better winning percentages in the set pieces. The key was converting visits into the 22 meter into points, and Boston did a better job converting its 13 opportunities into six tries. New York made nine visits inside Boston’s 22 and flanker Chloe Jex (2) and inside center Allysa “Bono” O’Neill away for tries, but did miss out on the four-try bonus point in the loss. Co-captain Jetta Owens knocked over two conversions.
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Twin Cities Gemini and the Chicago Tempest then followed with a nighttime kickoff at Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill. The Gemini opened with a convincing 78-22 win against nearest opponent Chicago Tempest. Chloe Headland led all point-scorers with 17 on seven conversions and a penalty kick. Meli Rios Mena dotted down three tries, while Meghan Ahnen, Natayah Bauer, Emilee Jalosuo, KJ Johnson, Serena Liu, Hannah Pfersch, Sophie Pyrz and Whitney Smith added five points apiece. The team as a whole won the territory and possession battles and was also excellent in its set piece success.
Tempest posted a 95% retention rate in its breakdown and did score four tries so it will receive a bonus point in the loss.
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Week 1 ended in Sacramento’s Heart Health Park, site of the recent Pacific Four Series and CRAA 15s championships. The Bay Area Breakers hosted 2025 Legacy Cup champion Denver Onyx and took a 19-12 lead into halftime. The home side, which relocated from Lodi to Sacramento this year, then pulled away in the second 40 for the 36-19 win. The Onyx did not score four tries in the loss and thus missed out on a bonus point in the standings.
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Week 2 sees the Bay Area (1-0) head to the New York Exiles (0-1) on Saturday, May 9 for a 5 p.m. ET kickoff at Memorial Field. On Sunday, May 10, the T.C. Gemini (1-0) fly to Denver Onyx (0-1) for a 2 p.m. MT kickoff inside Infinity Park. Then the Boston Banshees (1-0) boot up at Benedictine University against the Chicago Tempest (0-1) for a 5 p.m. CT kickoff. See the full regular-season schedule and learn more about watching the games live.