State Final 2011

(picture 1: DSHA JV vs Brookfield)
(picture 2: CMHS v DSHA)

Sunday afternoon, Divine Savior Holy Angels High School won the Wisconsin Girls Rugby State Championship, 17-0 against Catholic Memorial High School of Waukesha.

Coach Klein, of DSHA, said afterwards, "that might've been the greatest high school game ever played in the state. The first half was so tight, back and forth. The speed of the game was impressive."

"I don't think people appreciated how hard-hitting that game was," he added. "That was as physical a match as we've ever played."

Catholic Memorial came out fast from the kickoff and preceded to hammer away at the Dasher's defense. Despite long periods of pressure and possession in DSHA's half, the Dasher's defense held. DSHA had two chances to score on counter-attack breakaways, but a scrambling defense from CMHS was able snuff out the opportunity.

The teams entered the halftime break deadlocked at 0-0.

DSHA showed its character by coming out with renewed intensity from the break. A try two minutes in, sparked by a gigantic tackle-breaking run from senior Captain Aleja Ross, set the tone for the second half.

CMHS came right back from the kickoff, approaching the DSHA 22, but were repulsed after multiple phases. A try from sophomore Kayla Pavella put DSHA up 12-0, and then again DSHA found itself again backed up near their tryline. Great defense and a clearing kick kept their shutout intact and sophomore Beth Pakorny was able to cross over for one more try to end a wonderful match.

Crusader coach Waliszewski added afterwards, "We gave everything we had. I'm incredibly proud of our ladies for their character and determination to play as a team against the most challenging of opponents."

Kettle Moraine finished off another good year with a hard-earned victory in the bronze medal match. Senior Captain Andrea Mertins, switching to fullback for this match, was impressive in defense and attack.

On field two, Menomonee Falls defeated Oak Creek in the closest match of the day, 8-0, for the division two championship. Oak Creek showed great improvement over their earlier loss during the conference season, and with two teams playing in the division, seem to be building momentum for future success. Congrats to Falls on another good season.

State Tournament Results
Championship DSHA 17 Catholic Memorial 0
3rd Place KM 20 Vernon 0
5th Place DS JV 22 Brookfield 17

D2 1st Place MFalls 8 Oak Creek 0
3rd FD Lac ? Oak Creek JV
5th Tosa 57 Muskego 22

Championship Day and Photo Contest

Well, championship day has arrived. WGR will be updating scores by the end of the day.

In the meantime, the 2012 Photo Contest is in full swing, so snap some great pictures today while at the tournament. The winner will get a free t-shirt from the tournament.

Please submit photos by November 9th, as an email attachment. Send them to our staff at wisconsingirlsrugby@gmail.com

Playoff Matches and State Tourney Schedule

Division I
CMHS 44 Kettle Moraine O
CMHS JV 15 Wauwatosa 10
DSHA 73 Vernon 0
Division II
Menomonee Falls 83 Oak Creek B 0
Oak Creek 39 Fond Du Lac 5

On Saturday morning, DSHA ran in multiple tries against a young and rebuilding Vernon team. Vernon had some periods of sustained possession with repeated pick and go's, but they were unable to threaten DSHA's line. Senior Aleja Ross and junior Emily Van Bibber each put in a couple tries for the Dashers.

Sunday afternoon, the CMHS girls rugby team defeated Kettle Moraine in the other state semifinals, 44-0. In a match punctuated by long periods of possession by Kettle Moraine, Memorial was able to score off of a returned kick and long breaks.

The CMHS JV team defeated Wauwatosa 15-10. Tries by freshmen Lisdon Brannon, and sophomores Brittany Silas and Julie Else helped the Crusaders advance to (5-1) on their season.

Next Sunday, Oct 30th the State Championship Tournament is being held at Naga-Waukee Park in Delafield. The schedule is:

10:00am JV match D2: Muskego v Wauwatosa
11:15am D1 5th Place: D2 5th Place
DSHA II v Brookfield Fond Du Lac v Oak Creek II
12:30pm D1 3rd Place: D2: Championship
Kettle Moraine v Vernon Oak Creek v Menomonee Falls
2:00pm D1 Championship
DSHA v Catholic Memorial
3:30pm Awards Ceremony

Upcoming Playoff Matches

A quick guide to all games this coming weekend:

10/22 Saturday
Vernon @ DSHA 10am Dretzka Park

10/23 Sunday
Kettle M @ CMHS 1pm Minooka
Tosa @ CMH JV 230pm Minooka

Oak Creek @ Fond Du Lac Noon
OAk Creek B @ MFalls 1pm

WGR State Tournament 10/30 Naga-Waukee Park

The WGR State Championship will culminate Sunday Oct 23rd at Naga-Waukee Park. Each team in the state will be playing for their final ranking, in two different divisions. The Championship game will tentatively be played at 2pm.

Attached above is a black and white image of this year's t-shirt.

Pre-orders will be accepted, just email wisconsingirlsrugby@gmail.com

$12 for short-sleeve and $18 for a long sleeve t-shirt.

All proceeds go to benefiting WGR's efforts to support girls playing rugby!

The Picture of the Year Contest

This image was taken during rugby practice this fall. We're told that it was an even better picture in-person. Each season is filled with it's own moments and memories and this year, WGR would like to kick off the playoffs with our first-ever, PICTURE OF THE YEAR, contest. If there's an image that captures a great moment from this year's competition, on or off the field, submit it to our editors. We'll publish the submissions and the winner will receive a free State Tournament T-shirt.

Submit photo entries to our editors at:
wisconsingirlsrugby@gmail.com

Submissions will be due the week after the State Tournament.

Postscript:
The image above reminded us that we're generally blessed with wonderful weather during the fall rugby season, and despite a little rain somedays, the season has gone by without any cancellations. The last two weeks of the season are always a particular joy with the cool air, fall leaves, and good rugby on the pitch.

Playoff Scores

We'll update as the scores come in ....

Division I
Kettle Moraine 38 DSHA JV 7

A brave effort from the young DSHA squad is not enough to stop the experienced Knightmares from advancing to the next round. KM will face Catholic Memorial next Sunday afternoon, Oct 23rd, at 1pm at Minooka Park.

Vernon Brookfield
The winner advances to face DSHA next weekend.
The semi-final is tentatively scheduled for 10am @Dretzka Park, with DSHA hosting.

Pictured:
Kettle Moraine Sophomore Hayley Rozman finds
some space through the defensive line en route to the 2nd try of the match in
the Knightmares v DSHA-B quarterfinal and her first of the season.

Division II

Oak Creek over Muskego

Oak Creek B over Wauwatosa

Next Sunday:
Oak Creek Fond du Lac
OC
B will play Menomonee Falls at Menomonee Falls

Division 2 Scores and Updates

From last weekend:

Menomonee Falls 23 Oak Creek 0
Fond Du Lac 30 Wauwatosa 15

Muskego 25 Oak Creek JV 10

Division I Bracket Released

The Division I girls rugby playoffs begin this weekend. While some details are still being hashed out, what the league office does know is published above in their official bracket.

The top two teams receive a bye, since it is a six-team bracket. The tournament culminates in the State Championship on Sunday Oct 30th at Naga-Waukee Park. This annual event features every team in the state competing, in two divisions, for their final ranking in the state.

Saturday Oct 15th DSHA jv (#6) @ Kettle Moraine (#3) 10am

Sunday Oct 16th Brookfield (#5) @ Vernon (#4) 12pm

Division I Conference Wrap Up

Brookfield 17 Kettle Moraine 60
Vernon DSHA win
CMHS 26 DSHA JV 0

Final Conference Standings
DSHA 5-0
CMHS 4-1
KM 3-2
Vernon 2-3
Brkfld 1-4
DSHA JV 0-5

Playoffs Round One:
DSHA, CMHS have a bye
KM vs DSHA JV
Vernon vs Brookfield

Final Week of the Regular Season

The conference season winds down this week, and playoffs loom on the horizon.

A few key matchups this week:

Vernon v DSHA 10am @Vernon Town Hall Saturday
DSHA has a chance to reclaim the conference title outright with a victory, after being Co-Champs last year.
Vernon showed improvement in narrowly losing to Kettle Moraine last weekend on the road.

Brookfield v Kettle Moraine 1pm Sunday Minooka Park

A Kettle victory secures third-place for them and a playoff match against the 6th ranked team.

Division II
Oak Creek v Menomonee Falls Noon (pictured scrumming above) Sunday


As it should be, the final match is the division ii conference title decider.

Division II, Week 4

Muskego 15 Wauwatosa 67

A historic first conference win for Wauwatosa in their first full conference season.

Division I, Week 4

CMHS 7 DSHA 26
Kettle Moraine 19 Vernon 12

CMH JV 14 DSHA JV 12
KM JV 26 Vernon 5

In the likely conference title decider, Catholic Memorial High School came out strong, scoring the game's opening try. DSHA came back to score a try at the end of the first half, to make it 7-7 at the break.

In the second half, DSHA's offense got rolling, and they added three tries to remain undefeated in conference play, with one match remaining at Vernon on Sat. Oct 8th.

In the other big game, Kettle Moraine held off a physical Vernon side 19-12 to move up to third place in the division.


Division I
DSHA 4-0
CMHS 3-1
Kettle 2-2
Vernon 2-2
Brookfiield 1-3
DS JV 0-4