It was a busy weekend as four unions unleashed their full schedules of club rugby and we received the appropriate amount of anticipated action promised.
Pacific North
Men's
Fresh off its DII National Championship run, the Olympic Club returned to NorCal and cracked the Diablo Olde Gaels, 84-0, on opening day in Vallejo, CA. Everyone pitched in on Saturday as ten players found the tryzone with Corey Nuti scoring three tries. Trying to match OC’s result, the Vacaville Old Dogs dominated Google to a 64-7 win. Jeremy Dunn, Nathan Short, and Mese Saukuru came up big for Vacaville scoring two tries apiece.
It didn’t take long to brush the dust off in DIII as over 350 points were scored in the five matches on Saturday. The games featured blowouts wins for SFGG, Fresno, and Berkeley and a pair of contested matchups. The high score of the weekend went to SFGG by beating San Jose 96-7 followed by Fresno walloping Google 59-17. In a closer test, the Bay Area Baracus withstood a furious charge from the Chico Mighty Oaks in the last ten minutes to survive for a 40-31 win. Finally, despite three yellow cards, the Jesters’ defense led the team to a 33-22 victory over the Marin Reds.
In DIV, B.A. Baracus went 2-0 on the day clearing the San Francisco Fog, 57-21. It was a team effort for Baracus with eight players crossing the whitewash. The Reno versus Central Coast and Mendocino against Redwood were canceled and will be rescheduled later in the season.
Women's
All six Northern California teams were meant to take the pitch for their league openers last weekend, but the Santa Rosa vs. Life West match was cancelled. But the two games that did evolve filled the weekend with solid competition and good drama.
Berkeley traveled to Sacramento to face the Amazons, the reigning DII Club National Championship titleholders, and fell behind 15-0 in the first half. Scrumhalf Margaret Slattery, fullback Lexia Reynolds and lock Roxanne Lembke finished the scoring opportunities for the home side, and midway through the second half, prop Fancilia Lee-Lo added a fourth try.
Meanwhile, the All Blues started chipping away at the lead in the final 30 minutes of the match. Wing Sally Shatford snapped the shutout with a try in the 52nd minute, and then inside center Elena Clark and No. 8 Jazmyne Spear put down tries within minutes of each other: 20-17 with flyhalf Kat Chasakara’s conversion. Sacramento was issued two cards in quick succession, giving Berkeley a two-player advantage for eight minutes. The All Blues capitalized and in the waning minutes, Spear scored two tries for the 27-20 win.
San Francisco Golden Gate traveled to the South Bay to face San Jose, and the teams remained within two converted tries of each other until the final minutes of the match. The Seahawks went up first, as No. 8 Celeste Knight opened the scoring 10 minutes in, and then SFGG responded through flyhalf Lindsay Kinsler, who the ended the day with 18 points on two tries and four conversions, and flanker Grace McKenzie (14-5 SFGG).
Flanker Aliana Criado’s try narrowed SFGG’s margin to 14-10, but that was the closest that San Jose got to a lead change. Kinsler, McKenzie and reserve Katherine Alton added Golden Gate tries, while Seahawks wing Magnolia Morris converted outside center Mariah Blackmore’s try for another seven points: 33-17 to SFGG. In week two, Life West and SFGG, and Berkeley and San Jose will play each other.
Pacific South
Men's
With a few of the Division I clubs giving Major League Rugby some preseason testing, the focus in the Pacific South shifted to the lower divisions. Fourteen games littered Arizona and Southern California with interesting results.
In the first two weeks in Arizona DIII, the Red Mountain Warthogs and the Northern Arizona Landsharks look to be the frontrunners of the division. Both squads are 2-0 having dispatched tough opponents in the early going.
Against Phoenix, the Warthogs racked up a 40-point lead and nearly secured a shutout before their adversary scored three tries in the last ten minutes for the 40-21 win. Tyler Dean and Bruce Duncan were named Men of the Match for Red Mountain while Sam Johnstun led all scorers with a pair of tries. As previewed in the Six-Pack, the match between Northern Arizona and Scottsdale lived up to the hype. The Blues took the early 10-0 advantage, but the Landsharks bit back with 33 straight points that included a hat trick from Jason Pickens. Scottsdale closed the gap in the second half, however, NAU won the day, 45-32.
In the strong 12-team SoCal DIII, it’s going to be a battle all season for first. In a classic tale of two halves, the defending league champions, Kern County, came out and picked up right where it left off last year and dominated for a 33-0 halftime lead against newcomers Ventura County. The Outlaws flipped the script and reasserted themselves in the second half gradually chipping away at the lead. Down by four with no time left, Ventura completed the comeback with a try under the posts for the 36-33 victory.
“The deciding factor was the inexperience of a very young Kern County team versus the experience and rugby knowledge of a very good Ventura County team,” Kern head coach Jamille Jacobs said. “We probably have the most athletic team in the league but very few guys have actually played rugby. Last year, we relied heavily on our athleticism, which carried us all the way to the National Semifinal game losing 42-12 to eventual National Champs, the Austin Blacks. The boys definitely understand with aspirations of returning to Nationals, we can't overlook the strong competition in our own league.”
Based on Huntington Beach’s finish in the semifinals of league playoffs and the North County Gurkhas at the bottom of the standings, it was a surprise that North County blanked the Unicorns in the first half and the eventual 44-22 upset. Huntington Beach always has a very strong side, so it shows that the Gurkhas improved over the summer led by captain Casey Cornell. In the other scores, DIV champion Fullerton took the step up to DIII to beat Back Bay 24-22, San Diego Old Aztecs conquered Beaumont 34-19 behind a pair of tries from Lucas Edwards and Nick Cavallaro, and Eagle Rock won 37-27 against Santa Barbara.
Lastly in SoCal DIV, the Dead Rabbits and a four-try effort from Desmon Paopao dealt Temecula Mountain a 47-29 defeat, the South Bay Stingrays’ flyhalf Luke Cunningham outscored Riverside all by himself with a hat trick and four conversions on the way to a 50-22 win, and the San Diego Armada notched a 52-12 road victory at the Los Angeles Rebellion.
Women's
There were a couple of friendly matches across the three divisions, but the six-team Division III – the largest of the geographic union’s women’s club competitions this season – officially kicked off with two league games.
Santa Barbara hosted San Fernando Valley and banked a 37-22 win. Tries from Mermaids flanker Amanda Kelley (2), reserve Katie Janus, outside center Christine Kler and scrumhalf Courtney Applewhite built a 25-0 lead before San Fernando outside center Lizamarie Alvarez answered with a try.
Applewhite, Kelley and hooker Honoree Tuazon kept the scoreboard ticking over with tries, but San Fernando kept pushing and earned its bonus point with tries through flanker Guadalupe Moreno (2) and flyhalf Stephanie Peterson. A Moreno conversion capped a 37-22 decision to Santa Barbara.
First-year team Phoenix played its first official 15s match on the road against Northern Arizona, another young program building momentum in the developmental league. Phoenix came to fruition when Jillian Haretuku, who had been practicing with the men’s team, wanted to get a women’s side going, and the 50-year-old club supported. Arizona alumna Jessica Carpenter signed on and helped drive a voracious recruiting effort. The team signed Kelsea Thompson, who moved from New York, as head coach, and played a few tournaments in the fall.
“We were mostly excited for our first league game. Whatever happened we knew we were making history and this was the start of something really good,” flyhalf Carpenter said of opening-day nerves. “We were a little nervous because we hadn’t played a full 15s match for 80 minutes yet. ‘Are we fit enough for this?’”
The team traveled light with just 12 players, but despite the significant deficit, Phoenix did not want to initiate its existence with a forfeit loss. Two minutes in, player-coach and outside center Thompson scored and Carpenter converted.
“We all looked at each other, ‘Maybe we can do this,’” Carpenter remembered that confidence-boosting moment. “After that, I’ve never seen anything like it. The flow was great. Everything we worked on in practice came together in the game. Defense was fantastic, too. We all wanted to work for each other.”
Phoenix put down another five tries in the first half through Thompson (2), prop Margaret Sowell, inside center Jessica Rexrode and prop Karlee Nyborg. Carpenter added another three conversions, six on the day, for a 38-0 halftime lead.
The second half was much more even, as Northern Arizona matched Phoenix’s first-half output with 38 points, thus earning a bonus points for tries scored. But Phoenix kept pushing, even when a yellow card further handicapped the visitors, and banked a penalty try (Thompson), and scores from No. 8 Madisen Miller and hooker Stefanee Sherman: 59-38 the final.
“First of all, we were tired,” Carpenter said of final-whistle reactions. “We fell to the ground and took a breather. After that it was hugs all around and congratulating each other for all of our efforts. And for the new players, they realized, ‘This is how a rugby game goes. I think I can do this.’”
Phoenix will host its first home game this weekend and take on another new team, Riverside. Northern Arizona will travel to Santa Barbara.
Red River
Men's
The second round of competition in the Red River Division I showed that there is no slowing down for the squads from Austin. Building off its win against Dallas last weekend, the Huns trampled the Dallas Harlequins, 47-8, and the Blacks showed their mettle on the road at AVEVA Stadium by shutting out West Houston, 56-0. The Blacks versus Lions match was broadcasted on the Houston SaberCats Facebook page and produced a viral moment where Austin’s Brendan Rams and Chris Baumann combined 80-meter big man try to end the game.
This past weekend’s results set up a huge early-season clash between the Huns and Blacks on Saturday. It will be a packed day of rugby at Burr Field in Austin as the DI, DII, and DIII sides for the Huns and Blacks will play each other, as well as a high school match between Four Points and Westlake, the University of Texas versus BYU, and capped off with a MLR preseason match between the Austin Herd and the Colorado Raptors.
Like its DI counterparts, the Austin Blacks DII completed the sweep against West Houston with a 52-0 goose egg. Joining the Blacks in the undefeated ranks are Fort Worth and the Houston United. Fort Worth defeated the Austin Huns, 22-5, to sit atop the DII-North standings while the Houston United put a hurting on San Antonio, 34-3. Houston is idle this Saturday while Fort Worth takes its unblemished record to Dallas.
Down in DIII, the Grand Prairie Mavericks maintained their stranglehold on the top of the North standings by shutting out the Dallas Athletic Rugby Club, 40-0. The Dallas Alliance kept pace with the Mavericks improving its record to 4-1 with a 41-26 defeat of the Dallas Reds. Grand Prairie and Alliance have finished the past few seasons in the top two spots and will play other on Saturday in Dallas to see who are the Kings of the North.
In the Central, it came down to penalty kick in the last minute by the Austin Huns’ Preston Reine to determine the result against Alamo City. The Huns led for most of the match until a try from Michael Stewart and conversion from Ignacio Torres Arpi Pous in the 72nd minute gave Alamo City the 22-20 lead. In the waning minutes, the Huns trudged downfield and set themselves up with a shot at the posts. Reine kicked the penalty and after a discussion between the referees, the kick was good and Austin won 23-22. In the second match of the division, the Other Rugby Club broke its three-game losing streak with a 58-32 victory over Corpus Christi. Flyhalf Justin Hale shined for ORC with four tries.
With the top two squads in the DIII South on a bye, Galveston and Bay Area won their first games of the season. Galveston defeated Kingwood in a tight match, 24-20, and Bay Area overcame the Houston Arrows, 34-24.
In the lone DIV match between Alliance and the Dallas Reds, Alliance won 40-19 for its first win.
Women's
Austin received some recompense for its season-opening loss to Bay Area (BARC) and celebrated a 27-21 win in the rematch at home.
“They came out a lot stronger than we anticipated,” Austin captain Alicia Fischweicher said of the teams’ first meeting and five-point loss in November 2019. “We came in a little slow and they came in really heavy. … The Valkyries are not used to losing – and I don’t mean that to be cocky. Generally we’re a winning team and we don’t take it lightly when we lose.”
But again, it was BARC that made the first impact on the game, as prop Lauren Patterson scored the first try of the match and flyhalf Stephanie Wood converted. The Valkyries have spent time getting comfortable in a new pattern, and after the slow start, the team started to gel better.
Three lead changes followed. Wings Jennifer Vancura and Chelsey Arambula finished off Austin tries for a 10-7 edge, and then BARC outside center Veronica Houck dotted down and Wood converted: 14-10 to the visitors. Immediately afterward, Vancura touched down a second try (15-14) and flanker Erika Persil pushed out the differential with a score. Flyhalf Zoe Hunter’s conversion put the home side ahead 22-14.
“It was competitive the whole way through and came down to the last bit,” Fischweicher said. “We were scoring on the outside so we couldn’t convert most of our tries, and their tries were centered.”
At the 55th minute, Houck centered a second try and Wood’s conversion pulled BARC to within one, 22-21. There the game held for the next 10 minutes, until prop Brittany McGhee scored Austin’s fifth try, 27-21, and the game’s final points.
“We did a really great job of fully implementing our pattern,” Fischweicher said of difference-makers. “Now that we’ve had some real time practicing and getting that down, we’ll get stronger and faster with the pattern.”
Austin (2-1) will travel to San Antonio this weekend in a top-of-the-table showdown. Last Saturday, the Riveters traveled to Dallas Athletic with 16 rostered players and shut out the home side 64-0. San Antonio improved to 3-0.
Fullback Christine Krieger led all point-scorers with 29 on three tries and seven conversions, while centers Antea Dedic and Toni Armstrong scored two tries apiece. Lock Lauren Elliott, scrumhalf Liza Tarleton and wing Halie Green added five points each.
South
Men's
Play resumed in Florida with the Orlando Griffins kicking off its DII season with a 14-7 edging of the Tampa Crewe and in the only South division match, the Miami Tridents annihilated Fort Lauderdale, 79-7.
In the men’s DIII openers, last year’s state runner-up Gainesville defeated the Bay Area Pelicans, 29-19, two-time defending champion Palm Beach blanked Jacksonville, 47-0, Brevard crushed Sarasota, 49–19, and Crescent City dominated Gadsden 86-5.
Lastly in DIV, Orlando beat Tampa, 33-10 while Lakeland outlasted Daytona Beach, 20-19.
Women's
The five-team DII Florida league kicked off last weekend, as Orlando traveled to Tampa Bay for the season-opener. A well matched contest evolved, and the home side prevailed with a 12-5 win.
It was a stalemate, as far as the scoreboard was concerned, for the first 20 minutes, but then Krewe flanker Kaitlin Lindblom dotted down for the 5-0 lead. Just before the break, Orlando put wing Shontavia House away for a try, knotting the score at 5-all into halftime. The battle for dominance marked the second half, as both sides made their tactical substitutions to keep intensity at a premium. Midway through, Tampa Bay inside center Sam Black broke free for a lead-securing try and outside center Jesse DePaolo added the extras and final points of the match: 12-5 to Tampa Bay.
The Krewe enjoys a bye week in round two, while Orlando looks to regroup against visiting Fort Miami, and Jacksonville travels to Indian River for their first league game of 2020.
