North Shore Pleased With #3

North Shore forwards use its size to beat Seattle.

By Jackie Finlan

Whatever wounds Chicago North Shore suffered in its near-loss to Atlanta in the DI Women's Club semifinals were salved in its 28-10 over Seattle in the third-place match. North Shore rallied from a disjointed first half to tack on four converted tries in the second half and ends the season playing their signature style of team rugby, capping an inspiring season.

“We knew Seattle was a hard-running, scrappy team with a lot of fight,” North Shore captain Jenny Lui said. “They weren't going to roll over and let us have third place.”

And the first half was evidence of such. Seattle went up with a penalty, 3-0, for the lone score of the half, and North Shore struggled to find its rhythm and committed many penalties to jar the fluid play for which they're known. “Our coach sat us down at halftime and asked if we really wanted this game, because we weren't playing like we did,” Lui said. “We got our heads on straight and committed to doing the little things right.”

North Shore used its size in the forwards to get its offense rolling. Friday's MVP, Maggie Craig at prop (or as they're affectionately known at North Shore: one of the funnel cake kids), led North Shore up front and used her size to get Seattle moving backward. A nice forward series of punches near the try zone allowed lock Lani Larson, who won the MVP on Sunday, to join the back line and strike a gap to the try zone, 7-0.

The backs found their groove in the second half as well, with center Robalyn Stone and fullback Teena Mastrangelo notching tries for the 21-3 lead. Seattle responded with a 30-meter intercept try before Mastrangelo got her second five-pointer of the game, 28-10.

Seattle exerted some pressure with five minutes to go, and North Shore suffered some late injuries, including lock Sarah Walsh, but at that point, the game was out of reach.

“People are pretty banged up but we have a good bench,” Lui said. “At the beginning of the match, we said, 'We have 80 minutes to go all out and then we'll worry about taking care of all of our injuries.”

“It was a little disappointing to come so close to the title game, but we are very proud of performance,” Lui reflected on the weekend. “We weren't connecting in the first and played the way we know how in the second. It's a good way to end the season, going out performing well.”

North Shore is already thinking about next season and has tasked itself with improving its level of competition and putting in the offseason work to return to the top of DI.

Atlanta Vies For DI Crown

By Jackie Finlan

Atlanta bowed during last year's Women's DI Championship semifinals, falling to the eventual champions, and tomorrow the Harlequins will get another shot at the Surfers and the title. Atlanta beat Chicago North Shore in a thrilling 18-13 victory, and looks to carry that momentum into the final.

For North Shore, it was a difficult loss, but to the team's credit, they advanced farther than expected. "The ball could've bounced either way," North Shore captain Jenny Lui said. "It just didn't go our way."

Both sides came out as fast and furious as one would imagine. The teams used the first 10 minutes to feel out each other's strengths and weaknesses, and North Shore did a good job of pressuring Atlanta deep in their end. Wing Alison Freidheim picked off a pass out wide and dotted down for a North Shore try.

North Shore had the momentum, but some minor mistakes provided Atlanta opportunity to close the gap. "Once again, penalties killed us," Lui said. "These are high-level refs, so they didn't allow any mess around the breakdown."

Some mess translated into a Heather Hale penalty kick to make it 5-3.

At halftime, North Shore emphasized the need to take care of the ball. "We were playing with aggression and urgency," Lui said, "and playing really well as a team. We were relatively happy with our performance, but couldn't execute on the little things. We didn't finish when we were close to their try line and sometimes our lineouts weren't working well."

"Atlanta is a very good team and I don't think they were expecting as much pressure from us," Lui continued. "They have a lot of exeperience, but we were pretty well matched in all of the sub units that wasn't and clear advantage. It all came down to execution."

Both teams found their groove on offense in the second 40, and near the 60th minute the teams traded tries. Atlanta slotted a penalty and try, and North Shore responded with an Alyssa Green five-pointer in the corner and a Walsh hit penalty, 15-13.

North Shore continued to pressure in Atlanta's end, but the Hale's boot did well to relieve pressure. Hale slotted another penalty for the extra three, 18-13.

"It was nice coming in as underdogs because we could play loose," Lui said. "Getting here was our goal, but knowing that had one or two things gone differently and we'd be in the championships, coming this close, is disappointing. We have to keep our heads up, though. We played our hearts out."

North Shore will have the opportunity to end the weekend on a positive note in its 3rd place match against Seattle, while Atlanta and San Diego go for the title on the Sunday.

Final Four Fight in Mesa

Atlanta hopes its stauch defense will silence North Shore's backline weapons.

By Jackie Finlan

Mesa, Ariz., is going to be a busy city starting tomorrow, as the Women's Premier League and division I & II championships ensue in one location over two days. Division I will be contesting its semifinal round, sending its top four teams, while the WPL and DII send eight teams apiece.

In DI, the Final Four showcases three of last year's semifinalists and newbie Chicago North Shore. CNS, which beat Tempe 48-8 in the first round and Philadelphia 24-6 in the quarterfinals, will face Atlanta tomorrow. The Harlequins, the top Competitive Region 3 team downed Belmont Shore 24-6 after a bye through the Round of 12.

"Like most teams," Atlanta flyhalf Heather Hale said, "we are hopefully still on our way to peaking, but we have been working very hard the past few weeks to improve our overall game. We're getting the groove on in our lineouts and working extended periods of continuity. We've continued to focus on work at the breakdown and multi-phase play so we can play the fun 15-man rugby we want to. We still need to string together a full 80."

Atlanta has a good balance of strength throughout the lineup and saw leading performances from flanker Liz Snodgrass and captain Steph Iacobucci a couple of weekends ago. They did a good job of disrupting Belmont scrumhalf Ann Wang and the general fluidity of the back line. Inside center Patty Jervey put her team on the front on offense and helped set up Sue "Cupcake" Uchneat and fullback Kari Morrison for piercing runs into the tryzone. Hale's boot did a good job of relieving pressure and gaining territory to put their dangerous back line into scoring position.

As Atlanta looks ahead to Chicago North Shore, they know they're up for a battle. "They have a lot of weapons," Hale said, "with experience and speed in the back line and hard-rucking and running pack players." Fullback Teena Mastrangelo and lock Sarah Walsh accounted for five tries in Austin, Texas.

"As one of our captain's says, we will be seeking to 'self-actualize' on Friday by playing pretty, smart, clean and tough 15 woman (38 woman) rugby for 80 minutes," Hale continued. "We are exceedingly excited to get to Mesa and see what we're made of."

Atlanta and North Shore don't have much knowledge of each as far as first-hand experience on the pitch goes, but that's not the case for San Diego and Seattle. The two teams have finished #1 and #2 in Competitive Region 1, and their annual league game is the highlight of the season. The Surfers are the favorite as the defending national champion and beat the Breakers 29-13, but with the DI title on the line and neither team with a home-field advantage, one hopes for an even tighter match.

Both teams received byes through the Round of 12. San Diego then advanced to the semifinals with a 26-3 win over Glendale, whereas Seattle topped NOVA 17-5 to move on. Last year, NOVA beat Seattle 25-23, eating up a two-try deficit late in the game and stealing the Breakers' championship berth.

“Beating NOVA is definitely the high point of the season,” said fullback and captain Marty Quick, who accounted for 17 pts off the boot. NOVA had come off a massive 53-12 win over host Austin during the Round of 12, and Seattle coach Tony Maphosa took note of the Virginia team's potent back line.

“After watching NOVA play,” Maphosa said, “it was clear that we needed to keep the ball away from their back line, use our forward pack to control the tempo of the game and then take advantage of their forced errors.”

The Breakers stuck to their game plan and took a 7-5 lead into the half thanks to a try from flanker Michelle Stephen, who touched down a rolling maul, and Quick conversion. CJ Hildreth accounted for NOVA's five-pointer.

It was Seattle's crippling tackles and pressure defense, led by back row players Stephen, Erica Black and Rose Baker, that kept NOVA's back at bay, and former New York scrumhalf Carrie White did an excellent job of keeping intensity high.

Flyhalf Mari Thierran finished off Black's 20-meter breakaway for a try, which Quick converted in the 58th minute. Quick added a 30-meter penalty at the whistle for the 17-5 win and semis berth.

Seattle will need to employ a similar game plan against San Diego, whose dangerous back line mimicks NOVA's. They'll need that 80-minute game as well, as the Surfers have the legs to score early, late and often.

"We left it all on the field," Stephen had said about the NOVA victory, and the Breakers will have to do it again if they want to claim a spot in the final.

North Shore Beats Odds at DI Nationals

Sarah Walsh's two tries against Tempe set the tone for North Shore's weekend.

By Jackie Finlan

Three of the four teams that competed in last year’s Women’s DI National Semifinals have returned to the 2010 Final Four, with Chicago North Shore replacing ’09 finalist NOVA in the fourth slot. All but North Shore received byes through the first round of playoffs, but the Chicago team didn’t let that handicap affect its performance last weekend, beating Tempe and Philadelphia by a combined score of 72-14.

Chicago North Shore played its first games like pros, feeling out Tempe, a team against which they’d never seen. Ten minutes in, the Midwest team found settled into its rhythm and reverted to the game plan that had found them success all season. From a Tempe scrum deep in its own territory, North Shore turned over the ball and flyhalf Sara Corcoran put the team’s first five points on the board, 5-0.

The momentum began to build and a boot back into Tempe’s end set up another attacking opportunity and pressure in the attempted counter attack put number eight Sarah Walsh in the position to intercept a pass and touch down again, 10-0.

The forwards accounted for the next score, sending a quick-tap penalty to lock Nova Riemer, who linked up with prop Claire Ray, who did the rest of the work through the defense into the try zone.

Tempe answered with a penalty, but it would be the Arizona’s lone points of the half. Walsh got her second try of the game from another quick tap penalty play and Corcoran converted. Then Robertha Lynn Stone found herself in the perfect support position to convert sustained phase play into another try, which Corcoran converted for the 29-3 lead at half.

The second half picked up where the first ended. Ten minutes in, a Tempe turnover made its way to wing Alyssa Green, who broke away for 20 meters before finding center Jenny Lui, who ran the final 20 meters for the try.

Alison Freidheim joined the scoring spree when a penalty play worked wide and the wing beat defenders for the try in the corner.

“This is where things go slightly awry,” North Shore’s Jenny Lui said. “We had to play one man down because of a yellow card due to repeated offenses. Tempe took advantage of our moment of weakness and made their way into the try zone for their only try. The score woke us up and we came back with the final try of the match.”

Abby Hunter, who replaced Corcoran, sent the ball to fullback Teena Mastrangelo, who raced 20 meters for the final try: 48-8. We were in the middle of the field and the ball went out to the backs. 

Prop Claire Ray showed great poise for a recent college graduate and impressed her seasoned teammates with her versatility and enormous promise.

“We're improving with each game,” captain Lui said, “but we're still not where we want to be. Every team aspires to put together that perfect game - the one where you feel like everything is working really well for 80 minutes straight - and we're no different.”

But the Tempe win was a great start, and North Shore’s true test would come in its next match, when it had to face Philadelphia, the CR3’s #2 seed, which enjoyed a bye through the first round.

The rest didn’t do Philly much good, however, as North Shore downed their opponents 24-6.

The unseasonably warm weather added another element to the game, making the forwards’ work more difficult than anticipated. North Shore knew of Philly’s forward-centric game plan, so the team focused its attack in the back line.

The forwards duked it out during the first 15 minutes, with wheeled scrum after wheeled scrum disrupting clean ball to the backs for both sides.

“It seemed like no back from either side would ever touch the ball,” game-two MVP Lui remembered. “But that soon changed.”

At the 15 minute mark, a North Shore scrum in Philly territory produced solid ball to the backs and center Robertha Lynn Stone raced into the try zone. Ten minutes later, North Shore was back in Philly’s end and a scrum on the right side of the pitch saw Corcoran break through the centers. The flyhalf put Lui into space and the captain dotted down for the try, which Corcoran converted, 12-0.

Philly found some momentum of its own and slotted a penalty for the 12-3 score at half.

Mastrangelo added some cushion by notching her second try of the weekend, joining the line from a five meter scrum. Philly earned its final points of the match with another penalty before North Shore used a lineout to unleash its backs’ attack once again, and once again found Mastrangelo breaking through the line for her third try in two games, 24-6.

Reflecting on the weekend, Lui said: One of our themes for the season has been, "It takes teamwork to make the dream work," and we've tried to stay really true to that.

“The vets have been great leaders, the rookies have stepped up their level of play, and our bench has produced really solid performances all year long,” Lui continued. “The level of play doesn't drop no matter who is in and that's going to be important going into Final Four,” a goal the team set for itself last spring.

Looking ahead to its semifinal match against Atlanta, the team knows it has its work cut out for themselves.

“Atlanta is a very strong team with a lot of experience,” Lui said. “We know it's going to be a bloodbath. So, we're going into that game focused on the only thing we can control, our own performance.

“We still have more to give,” Lui fiished. “The next two weeks will be about refining the game plan and staying focused, so that we're able to put our best foot forward in Mesa.”

Women DI Semis Teams Decided

By RUGBYMag.com Staff (North Shore is the only team to win two games this weekend)

Three of the four bye teams in the women's DI club playoffs won Sunday to advance to the semis November 12-14.

The only team that got Saturday off and didn't win was Philadelphia, which simply couldn't match the pace of North Shore of Chicago and lost 26-6. Four tries against no tries seemed to be the order of the day, as San Diego and Atlanta also prevailed by similar scores.

Slightly closer was Seattle v. NOVA, with Seattle scoring three times and NOVA once.

All the talk about teams that got the bye to the quarters being rested seemed to bear out, as Atlanta, San Diego and Seattle all enjoyed the bye. However North Shore certainly represented for the disrespected Competitive Region 2, which was given no byes, and still produced a semifinal team.

Emirates USA Rugby Women DI Club Quarterfinal Scores:
San Diego 26-3 Glendale
Atlanta 26-6 Belmont Shore
Chicago North Shore 24-6 Philadelphia
Seattle 17-5 NOVA

Women DI Club Playoffs Latest

By RUGBYMag.com Staff

NOVA looked very strong in their opening round playoff game in the Emirates USA Rugby National Women's DI Club playoffs Saturday.

NOVA hammered Austin 53-12 to move into the quarterfinals, while Glendale, Chicago North Shore and Belmont Shore all won.

NOVA ran out to a quick 26-0 lead but then saw Austin come back to make it 26-12.

"We got into some penalty trouble," said captain Lauren Hoeck. "Penalties have been an issue for us this season. Against teams like Atlanta, that will be a real problem because Heather Hale can kick penalties from 40 meters out."

But the NOVA forwards, turned it around, solidifying ball and holding their own against a Valkyries pack led by longtime prop Meredith Ottens. Once that happened, NOVA had the upper hand because they were faster and more skilled out wide.

"Our backs have long passes and that made a difference," said Hoeck.

Lock Rachel Warden was named player of the game for her big defensive plays, and CJ Hildreth was outstanding at center.

NOVA, Glendale, North Shore and Belmont Shore all now play Sunday against the four teams that had been awarded byes.

Several clubs have voice their displeasure at the format which gives a bye to four teams - especially since no team from the Competitive Region #2 got a bye, making their perceived weakness almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. Hoeck shrugged off the issue, sort of.

"I think it does make a difference to have all these teams that have played already face teams that are rested," she said. "But at the same time, we got to work out the kinks. Right now recovery is going to be huge - ice baths, the right food, and plenty of rest."

Glendale, 19-10 winners over Providence, takes on San Diego Sunday. NOVA plays Seattle. North Shore, who beat Tempe 48-8, will play Philadelphia, while Belmont Shore, who edged Chicago 29-19, will play Atlanta.

North Shore Number 1 in MW

By Jackie Finlan

Chicago North Shore exited the weekend with the top seed in the Midwest, winning 69-0 over Wisconsin on day one and 20-6 over Chicago in the final. The finalists advance to the CR2 championship the following weekend, where they'll face Glendale and Austin for seeding toward nationals.

Chicago had a much more challenging day one, battling to a 3-0 win over Detroit, a team that had pummeled the team 40-5 during league. North Shore didn't suffer the same physical toll in its semifinal match and was able to work its bench and rest starters for the final.

"The win against Madison was a testament to our improvement and gelling," North Shore's Jenny Lui said. "We've taken steps to improve the little things and becoming fundamentally sound. We had found bits and pieces of the puzzle during our league games, but never played as a team for a significant chunk of time. The Madison game was the first game we clicked for a good amount of time."

Despite a few late attacks at the tryline, North Shore's depth was able to keep Wisconsin off the scoreboard.

"We knew they were going to be gunning for us," Lui said of their final's opponent. "We pull a lot of intensity out of each other, and the teams can play a little frazzled due to the rivalry."

North Shore built a 12-0 lead in the first half. Wing Marlise King took it down the line and was pulled down feet from the try line. Eagle 7s player and fullback Teena Mastrangelo was there in support, picked from the breakdown and carried the ball the final two feet over the line (5-0).

Scrumhalf Heidi Galasek finished off a scoring opportunity built by the physically imposing North Shore forwards. From a five-meter line, North Shore pushed an attacking scrum into the try zone, where Galasek touched down. Lock Sarah Walsh converted the score 12-0.

Walsh slotted a penalty in the second half before Chicago made some headway on the scoreboard. "We made a couple of mental errors but kept it together," Lui said after Chicago slotted two penalties. "We weren't happy about how many penalties we received, but we were able to keep our composure and stayed in their half for the majority of the second half."

North Shore capped off the day with another Galasek try, this time capitalizing on a eightman pick to the weak side, 17-0.

"We're starting to peak," Lui said. "In our league game against Chicago [which Chicago won 16-13], we didn't have all the pieces working together yet, and they wanted it more. We're really close to playing the style of game we want. The CR2 championships will be our benchmark for progress."

As North Shore prepares for its CR2 semifinal against Austin next weekend, Lui anticipates a big forwards' battle. "We're the biggest pack in the Midwest," Lui said. "We don't know too much about Austin other than having a strong pack, so it'll be interesting to see how the girls respond to bigger forwards."

In the other CR2 semifinal, Chicago will play Glendale. All four teams will advance to nationals, but the number one ranked team will receive a bye through the first round of national playoffs.

Midwest Champs Update

Up next: Chicago grudge match, take two.

By RugbyMag.com Staff

Day one of the Women's DI Midwest Championships has concluded with the Chicago teams earning berths into the final tomorrow.

Chicago North Shore took the top seed into the semifinals and faced winless Wisconsin. North Shore more than doubled the point total of the teams' regular season match, winning 69-0. They will face cross-town rival Chicago in the final, which eked out a 3-0 win over Detroit today.

"It was a hard-fought game that's a big step for our team," Chicago coach Lisa Gardner said. Detroit was the favorite heading into today's match-up after beating Chicago in the regular season 40-5. The "upset" is a tribute to the competition of the top teams in the Midwest.

When the Chicago teams faced each other in regular season, Chicago defeated North Shore 16-13, so tomorrow's final should be another barn burner. Regardless, both head to the CR2 championship against the West.

Stay tuned for full match reports.

Women's DI Club Update

By Jackie Finlan

Women's DI club rugby is one week from finalizing its standings in two of three competitive regions. Match of the weekend went to NOVA (2), which secured the CR3's South Conference top seed with a 12-6 win over Atlanta (3).

"Atlanta was a really impressive side and the game was a tough test for us," NOVA's Lauren Hoeck said. "Our team is really coming together. We have improved a lot in our areas of focus and now we need to tie all the pieces together."

Katie Miller put up NOVA's try as Atlanta slotted two penalties to make it stand at 6-5. In the final minutes of the game, CJ Hildreth touched down for the go-ahead points and CR3 South win. NOVA will host the North Conference's #3 seed, which will determined after Providence and Boston play this weekend.

Providence sits atop the CR3's South Conference, logging a bonus point in its 31-10 win over the Village Lions, which currently sit in second. Philadelphia's bonus-point 24-7 win over Boston gives them hope of securing that third spot to crossover weekend on Oct. 2.

In CR2, Detroit logged its second win with a massive 40-5 over Chicago. "Last year, we barely beat Chicago, maybe by a try or so," Detroit captain Shaunna Day said, "so we were expecting a really tough match. We were prepared for really hard, hitting forwards with great defense."

But the defense didn't prove a problem as Brooke Casanna logged a hat trick, and Leslie Mitzell, Lauren Zemla and Curly added tries. Erin Anne Keely took care of the conversions.

"We came out hard right out of the gate," Day continued, "and found a lot of success with our loose forwards inserting in the line. Our team is lean, not very big, but we've got speed."

Detroit scored in the first five minutes and set the tone from there. Despite a shaky second-half start that saw three quick penalties called against the coach-less team, Detroit team rediscovered the rhythm they had established in the first half, only made two substitutions all game, and put the game away.

Detroit will face Chicago North Shore next weekend in the last league match of the season. North Shore handled Wisconsin easily, 32-5, and logged a bonus point in the process.

The West, which doesn't contend league matches and advance automatically to West playoffs this weekend, had a quiet weekend. Austin attend a UT clinic, Glendale played at Aspen Ruggerfest, and Black Ice and St. Louis were idle.

It was a shutout kind of weekend in CR1, which only saw five teams play. San Francisco had a tough couple of days, losing to Belmont Shore (46-0) on Saturday then San Diego (37-0) on Sunday. The two victors sit atop the rankings, followed by Seattle, which blanked Tempe 33-0.

San Diego takes this weekend off, while Belmont Shore and Seattle attempt to match the Surfers' 3-0 record with wins against Tempe and Nor Cal Triple Threat.

Women's DI Club Update & Rankings

Chi Town grudge match highlight's this weekend's DI matches.

By Jackie Finlan

By weekend’s close, all women’s division one teams will have a league match under their boots, and the club landscape will begin to take shape. Game of the weekend pits city rivals Chicago and Chicago North Shore in CR2.

“North Shore has been the more overtly successful team for a long time,” Chicago coach Lisa Gardner said. “We beat them last fall for the first time in years, but we know that they are going to tougher this year, as many of their top players have returned. They have a lot of talent and they literally outweigh us.

“But we know that we’re good too,” Gardner continued. “The players who have been there have developed further. We’ve added some new talent and it’s exciting to imagine what and who will emerge from this game.”

Chicago lost the heart of its team, eightman and president Corrie Neuens to Minneapolis. Gardner called her departure “the end of an era”. Chicago also said goodbye to front rows Cynthia Galvan, Robin Popelka and Sarah Gray, flanker Erin Grey, fullback Jamie Lawrence and back Nicole Helmer.

That said, “What we do have this year is a better TEAM,” Gardner asserted. Leslie Johnson will lead from number 8 and Hannah Hodek will reinforce the second row. Scrumhalf Leah Kane-Risman will bring the whole thing together.

“As for personnel, the core of still relatively similar,” North Shore’s Jenny Lui said. “However, we did get Sarah Walsh back. Last fall, she traveled and played for the Minnesota Valkyries to prepare herself in hopes of being on the 15s World Cup squad. USA 7s Eagle Teena Mastrangelo is back from injury, and we have some fantastic new rookies, including a girl who was an All-American thrower in three events.”

“This rivalry isn't as ancient as Beantown v. Boston or Valkyries v. Amazons,” Gardner said, “but the intra-city thing seems to give it a particularly emotional aspect. It should be a great game and I believe that this rivalry makes both teams better.”

Also looking for its first win the CR2’s Midwest region will be Wisconsin and Detroit, who face off in Madison, WI. Wisconsin prefaced its league season with two big wins against DII clubs Scylla (47-5) and the Menagerie (47-0), while Detroit warmed up against Pittsburgh and the Valkyries.

Out west, the CR1 gets into its second week of play. San Diego and NorCal Triple Threat, both winners in their league openers last weekend (San Diego beat Tempe 38-10, NorCal 24-15 over San Francisco Fog), seek to break each other’s undefeated record.

The Fog looks for redemption against Seattle, which finished fourth in the country last year. “This year the Breakers are rebuilding and retooling having lost a significant number of seasoned players to relocation out of state and retirement,” Seattle general manager Iva Soota said. “Our focus will be on developing younger players to contribute immediately as we build toward our toughest weekend, a double header with San Diego and Belmont in early October. We know that defending our 4th place finish from last year will be difficult but we’re gearing up for the challenge.”

Tempe and the Emerald Mudhens, which lost 27-0 to Belmont last weekend, will be looking to avenge their week-one losses. The Mudhens are without Eagle 7s star Lauren Shaughnessy, who has relocated to France for work.

Interestingly enough, it’s the former DII teams that are leading the CR3’s northern conference. The Village Lions (New York City) are 2-0 after defeating Philadelphia 24-17 and Boston 7-5 the last two weekends. Providence kicked off its inaugural DI season with a 21-0 shutout of Philly.

In the southern conference, NOVA looks for its first win against Orlando, which had lost 46-0 to Atlanta in its opener. Shouldn’t be much of a contest as the DI national finalist beat the DC Furies 20-19 last weekend.

This weekend’s pretty quiet for CR3, as Philadelphia hosts the all-women Pumpkinfest. Although not as large as years past, the tournament welcomes CR2’s Austin and Glendale clubs, which must go looking for competitive matches before West playoffs in late September.

Rankings
The following is based off of last year’s National DI Championship finish, but there are already a handful of early-season upsets, so expect some shuffling in the upcoming weeks.

(fall league record, record including friendlies & tournaments)

1. San Diego (1-0)
Beat Tempe 38-10

2. NOVA (1-0)
Beat DC Furies 20-19

3. Atlanta (1-0)
Beat Orlando 46-0

4. Seattle

5. Austin Valkyries (2-0)
Beat Houston 43-7, Texas A&M 51-0

6. Glendale (1-1)
Beat Boulder 29-15, lost to Black Ice 24-12

7. Belmont (1-0)
Beat Mudhens 27-0

8. Nor Cal Triple Threat (1-0)
Beat San Fran Fog 24-15

9. Boston (0-1)
Lost to Village Lions 7-5

10. Chicago North Shore

11. Detroit (1-1)
Beat MN Valkyries, lost to Pittsburgh

12. Chicago

13. Village Lions (2-0)
Beat Philly 14-17, Boston 7-5

14. Providence (1-0)
Beat Philly 21-0

15. Black Ice (2-0)
Beat Glendale 24-12, Boulder 39-20

16. Philadelphia (0-2)
Lost to Village Lions 24-17, Providence 21-0

17. Wisconsin (2-0)
Defeated Scylla 47-5, Minneapolis Menagerie 47-0

18. Tempe (0-1)
Lost to San Diego 37-10

19. San Francisco Fog (0-1)
Lost to Nor Cal 24-15

20. St Louis Sabres

21. Mudhens (0-1)
Lost to Belmont 27-0

22. Orlando (0-1)
Lost to Atlanta 46-0

Women's DI Club Preview

San Diego are the reigning DI champs and will be the team to beat again. (Numina Photos)

By Jackie Finlan

The Women’s Club DI season kicks off this weekend, and there’s no reason to expect that the teams that did well last year, won’t also excel in 2010. A year after the Women’s Premier League formed, division one teams are still trying to figure out what competition structure works for them.

SLIMMER, SEXIER CR1
In Competitive Region 1, which merged teams from the Pacific Coast and Southern California territories, has made the least change of the three CRs. The nine-team league has pared down to seven, dropping the Sacramento Amazons and Budd Bay, both of which forfeited matches last season.

“Both teams finished at or toward the bottom,” San Diego’s Kirstin Hartos said of the relegated teams, “so that will just make for closer games and a tighter competition with the seven teams. This also means we will not have any double-header weekends this year, which is also nice.”

San Diego, the defending DI champion, is the favorite to win CR1. The team started training a couple of weeks earlier than usual, “which has been helpful,” Hartos added, “since we’ve had an influx of new players join this fall and close to 40 have consistently been coming to practice, especially now that our 7s players are back from nationals.”

CR1 employs the points system and doesn’t contest playoffs. “Every game matters,” Hartos said. “We have had healthy rivalries with Belmont and Tempe for years in Southern California, and are starting to build more of that now with our Pacific Coast counterparts. We definitely have a big target on our back, and every game is going to be tough.”

None will probably be as tough as Seattle, which finished fourth in the nation last year and played NOVA to a 25-23 loss in the national semifinals. The Surfers and Seattle employ very different styles of play – San Diego with its dynamic backs and Seattle with its mobile, hard-hitting forwards. The two teams will punch it out on October 2.

WILD, WILD WEST
The CR2 combines the West and Midwest territories, but last year, both TUs retained their separate league seasons and then sent the top two seeds from each to a regional championship. The same teams and structure are in place for the Midwest – Chicago, Chicago North Shore, Detroit and Wisconsin will play one another once during league – but the West has lost half of its teams.

Austin Valkyries’ Wendy Young indicated that travel requirements and/or numbers forced the Kansas City Jazz, Boulder Babes, Kansas City Jayhawks and Atomic Sisters (N.M.) to join Houston and the Dallas Diablos in DII.

That means that (seeded in this order) Glendale, Austin, Black Ice and the St. Louis Sabres are the only DI teams in the West and automatically qualify for the West Tournament that precedes the CR2 championship.

“The West was looking to revamp that schedule this year,” Young said, “but time got away from the West and so this year we are not required to have league matches to be eligible for the West tournament. They are seeding the tournament based on our performances from last year.”

Glendale beat Austin 24-0 in last year’s West final and now have former Philadelphia and current Women’s All American coach Lisa Rosen at the helm.

Glendale added another 20 players to its roster in 2009 and has been able to hold those numbers. With its attractive facilities and USA Rugby connections, the team will only improve throughout the years.

The other half of the CR2 equation lies in the Midwest. No one team really dominated the territory; however, Detroit made a good first impression, after bumping up from DII. Both Detroit and Chicago North Shore lost their CR2 semifinal matches, but the tournament was for seeding at the national tournament. The two Midwest teams dropped narrow defeats to Philadelphia and Boston.

CR3 SPLITS IN 2
And then there’s CR3, the home to Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and South teams. Last year’s five-team league spanned from Boston to Orlando. In 2010, the region promoted two DII teams into the league and then split the region in Northern and Southern conferences.

In the South are Atlanta, ’09 finalist NOVA and Orlando; and in the North, it’s Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and the Village Lions (NY). Each team faces each conference mate once, then plays a cross-over match (except the fourth-place team in the North) to even out the seeding for the CR3 championship.

NOVA’s still leading the region, and followers should see the Virginia team at the top again.

“Almost all of the players in NOVA's forward pack, which made huge strides last fall, are returning,” NOVA and USA 7s player Lauren Hoeck said. “NOVA has historically been most threatening in the backs, but our forwards are more often being integrated in our offense and making game-changing plays. 

“The composition of our back line has changed in the past year with Stacy Bennett and Elise Myer retiring,” Hoeck continued, “but several players stepped up to fill in our back triangle this past spring, including Sarah Davis, Mo McQueen and Britt Alexander, and a few others have returned to NOVA this fall.”

There was some resistance to the change. Even though the split makes league logistics less expensive, many DI teams lamented the loss of competitive matches.

“With only 3 teams in the south CR3 league, we will only have 2 league matches before play-offs,” Atlanta Harlequins president Stephanie Iacobucci. “Our geographic isolation as a DI program makes finding competitive matches to augment our season very difficult. With the previous CR3 arrangement, we were guaranteed twice as many good matches. With limited competitive matches, it makes it challenging to maximize preparation for playoffs and nationals. We're hoping that the organizers will revisit this set-up next year.”

Hoeck echoed Iacobucci’s sentiments. “It's hard to comment on the CR3 structure this early on, but I think it will work well. The only unfortunate thing about the CR3 split is that it means only 3 regular season matches for us (including one crossover), but we were fortunate to have a very successful spring in which we were able to build depth and try new things.”

POST-SEASON PEAK
There was negative feedback regarding the national tournament last year, which began with a round of 12 and thus awarded a day-one bye to the top four seeds before proceeding onto day two. All four teams with byes won their quarterfinals. Critics charged that the physical toll of two national tournament games in as many days is too big a disadvantage against an opponent with fresh legs; while supporters attested that, if the top four seeded teams advanced, then the seeding’s working.

Iacobucci, whose team beat Seattle 10-0 in last year’s third-place match, only had one complaint about nationals. “The only issue was the timing of the announcement of the location of the tourney,” she said. “Because it was less than 2 weeks before the tournament, flights and hotels were much more expensive.”

At the moment, it doesn’t appear the playoff structure’s changing. There can’t be a Round of 16, because sending nearly 75% of the country’s DI teams (there are only 22) is absurd. The competition would be more respectable beginning with a round of 8, so the number of teams advancing to nationals is closer to a third.

Regardless, teams are still relatively well spirited about the ever evolving landscape, even though DI is starting to look like limbo. The best teams are in the WPL, and the best DI teams are trying to join the elite competition; and the numbers in DII are growing as DI travel demands/commitment take its toll.

“The Harlequins are really excited to be moving forward this season and relish the opportunity to continue to play against well-organized and passionate rugby clubs in the D-1,” Iacobucci continued. “Clubs like San Diego and NOVA are setting the bar higher, and this vigorous competition will serve to raise up women's club rugby across the country.”

WEEKEND LINEUP
The CR3 league kicks off with Philadelphia hosting the Village Lions and Orlando taking on Atlanta.

CR2 hosts a few friendlies between Chicago v Glendale, Chicago North Shore v Minnesota Valkyries, and Black Ice v former DI team Boulder.

The CR1 gets rolling September 4.