Unbeatens Widen Gap in Week 3 of Women’s Premier League

By Wendy Young, courtesy of YourScrumhalfConnection.com

Women’s Premier League – Week 3 Results

• Berkeley All Blues out run Beantown.
• DC Furies vs. Keystone postponed due to weather.
• Surfers outlast Twin City Amazons.
• New York Women dominate Valkyries.
• To watch replays of WPL matches, click here.
• For more information on WPL game times, venues, and team rosters please visit the Stats Portal.

The third round of the Women’s Premier League showcased the top two teams in each Conference battling it out while the bottom teams would fight for their first wins.

Blue Division

Unfortunately the the DC Furies vs Keystone match was postponed as the match was rained out and cancelled due to weather. This match will be rescheduled to a later date.

Red Division

The Surfers continued their bulldozing of the WPL league, but in a slighty slower fashion as they hit a speed bump with the Twin City Amazons. Both teams have a winning record and both teams were looking to continue that pace. Speaking of pace…the pace of the match was incredible as both teams were incredibly aggressive in defense. This aggressiveness paid off as big hits meant spilled ball. In this match transition ball was incredibly important and the Surfers may have had the upper hand.

The Amazons showed their patience at the tryline though as the Surfers held up a number of tries. Their patience was rewarded as Morgan Johnson was able to dive for the score, conversion was missed. A few minutes later Sylvia Braaten added to the Amazons scoreline on a brilliant run around several Surfer players. After this quick start, the Amazons found themselves heavily penalized and as a result Surfers Casey Fields scored two quick tries to put the Surfers in the lead.

At the second half the Amazons knew they couldn’t let the Surfers run away with it and they upped their play even more. They controlled the phase play for a bit and were rewarded with a score from Rebecca “Reebok” Radtke. The Surfers answered back quickly though and the score was brought to 17-17 all. A few moments later the Surfers produced more quick ball at the ruck and spun it out to the backs, who scored moments before the final whistle.

The second game of the day featured New York and the Minnesota Valkyries, two teams that were still searching for the elusive win. From the kickoff New York made it clear that they didn’t want to drop to 0-3 in conference play. New York Winger Erika Granger scored at the ten minute mark and was quickly followed by tries from Rebecca Brafman, Vanesha McGee and Kaitlin Ruggiero. All four tries were converted by Ruggiero as well.

Minnesota seemed a bit dazed from the fury but came out strong after the half. They drove down the pitch to NY’s 22m but then their support ran dry and NY was able to poach the ball. Several phases later McGee was able to break free and blazed for a 65m try. The Valkyries never gave up in defense but the second half looked very similar to the first half with tries from Dana Wasserman, Lacy Higgins, Spencer Thompson, Brafman and McGee.

WPL League Standings

Blue Division

Red Division

WPL Week 4 Match Ups

Blue Division

Washington Furies @ Keystone
Berkeley All Blues @ Beantown

Red Division

New York Women @ Minnesota Valkyries
San Diego Surfers @ Twin Cities Amazons