Road To The WPL Title: All Blues Lead Contenders

Road To The WPL Title: All Blues Lead Contenders

A look at Week 2 of the Women's Premier League.

Aug 28, 2018 by Alex Goff
Brody And Cruz Talk NYRC Rugby

Berkeley is the only 2-0 team in the Women's Premier League after Week 2 action, but there remain three other teams without a loss.

The All Blues thumped ORSU 41-7 on Saturday, but that game wasn't as much of a dominance as the score might indicate. At 50 minutes the score was only 10-7, and two tries in the final two minutes Berkeley scored two tries to add insult to injury.

Seven tries for the All Blues came from seven different players — Tonya Wessman, Evan Hoses, Ardia Kelker, Delaney Chapman, Cathy Cai, Allison Byrne, and Serena Liu all got over the line. This result piled onto a much closer 17-12 win over the San Diego Surfers the week before. 



The Surfers rebounded with a victory over Glendale. But it was a coach's nightmare result as San Diego led 31-5 — thanks to three tries from Lauren Brisbin — only to see Glendale score all of the points in the final 30 minutes. Adekemi Adewunmi came on as a tactical sub and scored a try a few moments later to make it 31-22. The Merlins figured maybe an influx of fresh legs might finish off the comeback and ran on four more subs, but San Diego held on and prevented any further bleeding.

Berkeley now leads the Blue Conference with a 2-0 record.

Things aren't so secure in the Red Conference. New York had a bye last week but exploded to beat Atlanta 50-38 Saturday, with Kristen Siano scored 25 points with two tries, six conversions, and a penalty goal. Flanker Misha Green also scored two tries.

Atlanta is now 0-2 but has to look at the team's 17-15 loss to Beantown and a competitive loss to New York as indications that the Harlequins could still contend. Beantown, having escaped that close win over Atlanta, had a chance to go 2-0, but a final-second try by Shaena Sparrow secured a 15-15 tie for the Twin Cities Amazons. 

So there's much to do still to make the WPL Championship Game. Berkeley has started strong, but a date with Glendale and a rematch with San Diego are on the horizon.


Top Try-Scorers:

Christina Swift, Atlanta, 3

Adrienna Acosta, ORSU, 2

Sylvia Braaten, Twin Cities, 2

Julia Buescher, San Diego, 2

Monique Compito, Atlanta, 2

Lauran Glover, DC, 2

Misha Green, New York, 2

Rachel Johnson, ORSU, 2

Cortney Kuehl, DC, 2

Kristen Siano, New York, 2

Margaret Simpson, Berkeley, 2