The WPL Playoffs Are Set: Round 10 Wrap-up

New York wrapped up the fourth and final playoff spot in the WPL with a huge victory over Beantown.

Oct 28, 2019 by Alex Rees

The WPL Playoffs Are Set: Round 10 Wrap-up

It took 10 full rounds, but finally the 2019 WPL playoff picture is set.

West division winners Life West will take on East runners-up New York, while West runners-up Glendale face off against East winners Atlanta.

Whereas Life West, Glendale, and Atlanta had already sewn up their playoff bids weeks ago, New York went all the way to the wire to get the job done. Their big victories over Twin Cities and Beantown over the final two weeks of the regular season see them through to the semis.

Watch the WPL Championships Live and On Demand, Nov. 1-3, right here on FloRugby!

Here's how it went down in Week 10:

Atlanta Harlequins vs Chicago North Shore

The Harlequins maintained their scintillating form on Saturday, thrashing North Shore 49-0.

That makes it seven wins from their last seven games for Atlanta, and they could well be the hottest team in the league ahead of the playoffs.

North Shore, conversely, have lost their final seven games of the regular season. They'll have one last chance to turn it around at next week's championships.

The Quins jumped on Chicago early, building a 44-point lead by halftime. The Atlanta line speed in defense caused Chicago problems from the get-go. As a result, most of the game was played deep inside North Shore's half.

The Atlanta forward pack was dominant all day. Cortney Kuehl was her usual gamebreaking self with ball-in-hand, as were Lisa Jackson and Megan Rom.

Atlanta Flanker Chidinma Chukwueke returned for her first game in two months and was absolutely immense. She is a welcome late-season add for an already strong squad.

Quins flyhalf Corrine Heavner had another big day, scoring tries and slotting kicks like she usually does. Her halfback partnership with Bridget Kahele has been great all season and the two ran the show quite well on Saturday.

Atlanta - 49

Tries: Kuehl (2), Jackson, Gartner, Heavner, Robles (2)

Convs: Heavner (4)

Pens: Heavner (2)

Chicago - 0

Glendale Merlins vs San Diego Surfers

The Merlins put in another great shift over the weekend, extending their winning streak to seven games by defeating the Surfers 38-12.

The first half was a bit of a defensive struggle, but late tries from No. 8 Amandine Chatalier and wing Kaitlyn Broughton, both converted by McKenzie Hawkins, had Glendale up 14-0 at the break.

Flanker Evelyn Ashenbrucker pulled one back for San Diego early in the second half, but Glendale responded with three unanswered tries through Chatalier, and a pair from fullback Madison Slaught to push the score out of reach at 33-5.

San Diego's ever-reliable utility back Teigan MacDonald got herself on the scoresheet for the eighth time this season, but it was too little too late.

Glendale got one last try from No. 8 Carmen Farmer, who came off the bench for this one. The depth in the back row at the moment for Glendale is scary. They are arguably playing better rugby right now than any other team in the league.

Glendale - 38

Tries: Chatalier (2), Broughton, Slaught (2), Farmer

Convs: Hawkins (3), Cantorna

San Diego - 12

Tries: Ashenbrucker, MacDonald

Convs: Foster

ORSU Jesters vs Life West Gladiatrix

It was domination station again for Life West, who capped off a marvelous first regular season in WPL with a 55-21 win on the road against ORSU.

The win secured the #1 seed in the West for Life West, which means avoiding Atlanta in the semi-finals.

For ORSU, the last couple of weeks have been much-improved from the earlier parts of the season. Few teams have put more than 20 points on Life West all year, so scoring 21 is something they can be proud of.

Life West wing Nene Persinger was all over this game, scoring a hat trick and even adding a pair of conversions.

Props Tiara Littleton and Catie Benson, wing Elona Williams, center Sisileti Hingano, lock Nicole Strasko, and flanker Bitsy Cairns each also found the whitewash.

For ORSU, flankers Anna Symonds and Rachel Johnson (twice) provided the tries. Their performance in the final two weeks of the regular season hopefully propels them towards a good finish at the WPL Championships.

Life West's Amy Bonte checked out of the game early in the first, but let's hope it was nothing serious. Bonte has been one of the WPL's very best players all season, and she will play an integral role in their hopes of bringing home the championship next weekend.

ORSU - 21

Tries: Symonds, Johnson (2)

Convs: Richie (3)

Life West - 55

Tries: Littleton, Persinger (3), Williams, Benson, Hingano, Strasko, Cairns

Convs: Persinger (2), Hingano (3)

New York Rugby Club vs Beantown RFC

In the biggest game of the weekend, perhaps the whole season, it was New York who came away big winners, 32-12, and locked down the final playoff spot in the league.

WIth the sides separated in the standings by just two points before the contest, the match served as a de facto playoff game.

The game was extremely close until the final quarter, where New York outscored Beantown three tries to zero over the final 20 minutes of the match.

New York scored two unconverted tries early on by way of scrumhalf Gianna Solomon and wing Francesa Sands, but Beantown answered back through center Rosana Wright and flyhalf Tatjana Toeldte, the second of which gave them a 12-10 lead in the 45th minute.

However, New York would find the momentum once again and never give it back. Replacement winger Brianna Yerbury scored two tries, try-scoring machine Sarah Levy got one from her wing position, and playmaking No. 8 Chloe Jex added one for good measure.

New York will now face Life West in the semi-finals, as they search for another WPL crown. Their three consecutive wins will have them riding a wave of momentum, but to beat the Gladiatrix they'll have to be on their best form.