2019 WPL Championship

WPL Week 3 Round-Up: NYRC Comes Back Strong

WPL Week 3 Round-Up: NYRC Comes Back Strong

NYRC and San Diego rebound after last week, Atlanta looks good, and Life West keeps rolling.

Sep 3, 2019 by Alex Rees
WPL Week 3 Round-Up: NYRC Comes Back Strong

Week 3 of WPL action was mostly drama-free, with the closest scoreline a 16-point game between Life West and Berkeley. 

As this season progresses, we're seeing that there is certainly parity across the league, which bodes well from a spectators standpoint moving forward. 

Catch the 2019 WPL Championships LIVE and On-Demand, Oct. 25-27 right here on FloRugby!

WPL Semifinals, Finals, and Placement games

Here's how it shook out this weekend:

Life West Gladiatrix vs Berkeley All Blues

The league's two remaining unbeaten teams went back and forth for 70 minutes before a pair of late tries by Life West put the game out of reach. The 36-20 victory is yet another impressive result thus far by the Gladiatrix.

Life West got on the board right away through Amy Naber-Bonte, after flyhalf Sara Parsons hit a lovely crossfield kick that the center caught on the fly and finished brilliantly in the left corner of the endzone. 5-0 Life West. 

Four minutes later, the Gladiatrix were in for a second try. This time, Hope Rogers, playing hooker for this game, got on the end of a beautiful sequence of play to finish under the sticks to give her team the 12-0 advantage seven minutes into the game. 

Shortly after, Naber-Bonte scored her second of the match. Scrumhalf Nikki Kenyon made an expert snipe around the breakdown, then pinned the sweeper and dished a perfect pass to Naber-Bonte in support and the center sprinted in for the third try of the game. 19-0 Life West, 10 minutes in. 

But as any good team does, Berkeley responded quickly. A pilfered ball at the break down around midfield gave the All Blues possession, and some quick thinking from scrumhalf Shelby Lin got the ball wide to speedy winger Laura Thacker. She put on the jets and motored past the covering defense to score in the right-hand corner. 19-5 Life West on top. 

With 16 minutes to go in the half, Berkeley scored again, following a driving maul. The Berkeley forward at the back of the maul peeled off and carried down to a yard from the line, before her teammate, flanker Tonya Wessman, finished the off the try. 19-10 Gladiatrix still in front. 

Right before halftime, Laura Thacker scored her second of the day, and all of a sudden the Life West lead had all but vanished. Center Bulou Mataitoga assisted Thacker with a nice basketball offload to put her winger through. 19-15 now Life West at the half. 

The scores remained unchanged until the 53rd minute when Catie Benson bowled over from close range after a series of big carries from the Gladiatrix. 24-15 Life West. 

Seven minutes later, Berkeley answered once again, this time by way of flanker Christina Ramos. She received the ball around the Life West 22, and after a slight show and go, darted through the defensive line and used her speed to finish off the try. 24-20 Life West with 20 minutes remaining. 

In the end though, Life West was too strong. In the 71st minute, Sisileti Hingano scored arguably the try of the season so far. The young fullback received a kick deep inside of her own 22, and proceeded to charge upfield at full speed. 

She busted through a pair of tackles, then stepped her way through a gap to find open field. From there she showed off her wheels, racing into the endzone for a magnificent try, and a backbreaker for Berkeley. 29-20 Life West.

For good measure, replacement loose forward Tiara Littleton dotted one last try down for the Gladiatrix, capping off a 36-20 win. Three games, three bonus-point wins for Life West. Just the WPL start they wanted. 

Life West 36
Tries: Naber-Bonte 2, Rogers, Benson, Hingano, Littleton
Convs: Hingano 3

Berkeley 20
Tries: Thacker 2, Wessman, Ramos

Twin Cities Amazons vs Atlanta Harlequins

The Harlequins laid down a second straight big performance on Saturday with a huge 45-22 win at Twin Cities.

Atlanta only traveled with 18 players, but it was enough to get the job done as they move to 2-1 on the season. The Amazons will be disappointed with the result, given it was their home opener. 


A hat trick from prop Lisa Jackson paved the way for Atlanta. The former Raleigh representative has been a welcome addition to the Quins this season. She scored tries in the fifth, 22nd, and 76th minute, demonstrating that she is fit enough to be an impact player over the course of the entire 80 minutes. 

Atlanta winger Monique Compito scored a brace of tries herself right after halftime, while centers Nelson Meredith and Caitlane Fricia also scored a try of their own en route to a seven-try outing. 

Corinne Heavner knocked in 5/7 conversions. Her goal-kicking has been solid for the Quins this year, and could prove handy (or, footy?) as the season moves on. 

It was not the best showing from the Zons, but winger Kaelene Lundstrom can be proud of the hat trick she scored. She'll have wanted the team to do better, but if she keeps up that form the results will come. 

Atlanta 45
Tries: Jackson 3, Compito 2, Meredith, Fricia
Convs: Heavner 5

Twin Cities 22
Tries: Lundstrom 3, Howard
Convs: Wolff

ORSU Jesters vs San Diego Surfers

San Diego recorded their first win of the season on Saturday, something that's eluded ORSU so far. The Jesters continue to struggle, this time dropping their first home game 48-7 to the Surfers. 

After 15 minutes of scoreless action, Evelyn Ashenbrucker got the Surfers on the board with a strong pick and drive close to the line. She fought through two tacklers to dot the ball down. Megan Foster added the extras from out wide. 7-0 San Diego. 

Flyhalf Rachel Griendling took a pass from Ashley Byrge off the back of a driving maul near the line, and she knifed through the middle of the Jesters defense for the try. 14-0 Surfers after 21 minutes. 

The next try was a beauty. At the half hour mark, Byrge assisted again, this time to flanker Laura Easterling. She did the rest, beating one defender before racing 80 meters for the score. Once again, Foster was money from out wide. 21-0 San Diego. 

Foster then banged over a penalty, and it was 24-0 at halftime. 

ORSU's lone try came right after the half, through veteran flanker Anna Symonds. She took a nice offload from scrumhalf Erika Farias, and cut past the fullback to score a lovely try to cut the lead to 24-7. That would be it though for the Jesters. 

Surfers winger Tiffany Tate got on the scoresheet in the 48th minute, when she dove on top of a perfectly weighted grubber kick by Griendling in the endzone. Once again, Foster drilled in another sideline kick. 31-7 Surfers. 

The next score came again through Easterling, and this one was even better than the first. Some nice hands freed her up on the sideline by midfield, and she zigged and zagged through 5 defenders to take it the distance. Finally, Foster missed a kick, the upright denying her on this occasion. 36-7 San Diego. 

Replacement center Elizabeth Trujillo scored a magnificent 70-meter try, and then captain Kate Zackary scored a long-range try herself. 48-7 final. 

San Diego hope this game gets the wheels rolling as they aim to repeat as WPL champions. ORSU has a lot of work to do. To be fair to them, they've played three of the league's toughest teams in the first three weeks, but none of those contests have been close. It's still only Week 3 though, so there is time to rebound. 

San Diego 48
Tries: Easterling 2, Ashenbrucker, Griendling, Tate, Trujillo, Zackary
Convs: Foster 5
Pens: Foster

ORSU 7
Tries: Symonds
Convs: Richie

New York Rugby vs Chicago North Shore

New York came back strong in Week 3 with a surprise blowout of Chicago North Shore, 31-5. 

North Shore entered the game 1-0 after a big Week 1 win over Twin Cities at home. But whatever home magic they had that weekend, they didn't bring it with them to New York. 

After flanker Katie Sanford got Chicago on the board in the third minute, it was all New York from there. 

The women from the big apple reeled off 31 unanswered points through tries by flyhalf Jennifer Salomon, No. 8 Chloe Jex, scrumhalf Siobhan Coady, winger Sarah Levy, and fullback Tess Feury. 

Center Gianna Solomon tacked on three conversions in addition.

New York struggled a week ago on the road in Atlanta, but were carrying just 18 players on the traveling roster. This go around they had a full ensemble of players, and the difference was noticeable. 

New York 31
Tries: Salomon, Jex, Coady, Levy, Feury
Convs: Solomon 3

Chicago 5
Tries: Sanford