The Wisconsin Women have received the Fall 2013 Midwest Division II league schedule and are locking down kickoff times.

Wisconsin opens the season early on August 24 at home against the Palmer Women. The game will highlight the team’s Alumni Weekend. Wisconsin has won its last three matches against Palmer, including two on the road in Davenport won by just a one-point differential.

The team will then face Division I opponent Chicago North Shore in a friendly match at home on September 7, followed by a friendly scrimmage on September 14 at University Bay Fields in Madison against the UW-Madison Women.

Wisconsin returns to League play on September 21 with its first away game against the Minneapolis Menagerie, followed by a home match against the Saint Cloud Sirens at the Sports Complex on September 28.

The women in red open October on a short road-trip to Milwaukee to play in-state “frivals”, the Milwaukee Scylla on October 5 before enjoying their first league bye weekend on October 12.

Wisconsin returns to action on October 19 at home against the Twin Cities Amazons, the Division II side of the tough Premiere League team. A final home game on October 26 against the Menagerie again will wrap up the first half of the 2013-2014 season for Wisconsin. A second league bye weekend is slated for November 2.

The team will return to league action again in Spring 2014 with games on the road against Palmer on April 5 and Saint Cloud on April 12. Schedule success will determine the team’s draw into the Midwest and National Playoffs.

More information and game recaps posted shortly.

The Wisconsin Women have qualified to the 2012 D2 Women’s Midwest Championships. Here is all the information you’ll need to follow the team.

2012 Midwest Championship Bracket – Midwest Rugby News

2012 Midwest Championships

Hosted by the Milwaukee Scylla

Location: Milwaukee County Sports Complex, Franklin, Wis.

Seeds:
1. Pittsburgh Angels
2. Scioto Valley Squirrels
3. Milwaukee Scylla
4. Wisconsin Women

Saturday, Oct. 27
Games held at Froemming Park, 8801 S. 51 St., Franklin, WI 53132
Game 1 – 11:00 a.m. – #1 Pittsburgh vs. #4 Wisconsin
Game 2 – 1:00 p.m. – #2 Scioto Valley vs. #3 Milwaukee

Wisconsin will check in at 9:00 a.m.

Sunday, Oct. 28
Games held in Stadium, 6000 W. Ryan Rd., Franklin, WI 53132
Game 3 – 10:00 a.m. – Championship Match – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 4 – 12:00 p.m. – Consolation Match – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2

Sunday’s Game 3 Winner is Midwest Champion and earns the Midwest’s lone qualification to the 2012 USA Rugby D2 Women’s National Championship. They will earn the automatic #2 seed at Nationals in Florida.

In a battle to claim the Midwest D2 Western Division – Central League Champion, the Wisconsin Women traveled east to play in-state rival/friend the Milwaukee Scylla, Saturday, October 6.

Wisconsin owned a seven-year unbeaten streak against the Scylla entering the match, reaching back to 2005. Both teams were tied in league standings at 3-0 a piece, however Milwaukee finally capitalized on their forward strength and took the match in the final seconds, 12-11.

Wisconsin’s lone try was scored by Kelly Mullen. Teammate Elisa Becker notched two penalty kicks to lead the team in scoring with six points.

With the victory, Milwaukee clinched an undefeated regular season and home-field advantage for next weekend’s Midwest playoffs. They’ll host the Northern League #2 Minneapolis Menagerie.

Wisconsin will travel to Minnesota to play Northern League #1 Twin Cities Amazons, the D2 counterpart to the nationally-ranked Women’s Premier League powerhouse. Kickoff is to be announced. The Zons will enter the match with a loss today to the Menagerie, but clinched the league’s top spot with bonus points in the standings.

Shaping up to be an exciting home weekend, the Wisconsin Women are celebrating their team history with an Alumni Day and a league match against the Chicago Sirens Saturday.

Kickoff is at 11 a.m. at the WRC Sports Complex, followed by a b-side friendly match with the “visiting” UW-Madison Women at 12:30. Wisconsin is favored to win the Midwest Division II league match against the Sirens, after an earlier friendly match August 25 that saw Wisconsin defeat the Chicago team in Milwaukee, 92-0, in 60 minutes.

Wisconsin’s developmental players will play UW-Madison’s top side for 20 minutes, then help fill the roster for a Red versus White intrasquad match for the UW Women before they continue their Division I collegiate season.

Alumni and fans will also enjoy home games for the Wisconsin Rugby Club men’s Division II and Division III teams, then stick around to enjoy a pig roast social with all of the teams.

The Wisconsin Women opened their Fall 2012 Midwest Division II season with a dominant 40-7 victory on the road against the Will County Morrigans, Saturday, Sept. 8.

Game details are still forthcoming and will be added shortly. (Updated below, 09/20/12)

Wisconsin improves to 1-0 for the league season, 3-0 overall. The women in red have a bye this weekend, Sept. 15, before welcoming the Chicago Sirens to the Wisconsin Rugby Club Sports Complex on Saturday, Sept. 22.

In other league games, the Milwaukee Scylla defeated the Chicago Sirens, 49-0, and the new Twin Cities Amazons D-2 side defeated the Minneapolis Menagerie (score unknown).

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Game Report by Wisconsin Backs Captain, Lily Khadempour.

The WWRFC played their league season opener against the Will County Morrigans. It was a beautiful sunny day on a pitch that was slightly smaller than regulation but with healthy, soft grass, which helped to get both teams through a physical game with no serious injuries. The WWRFC kicked off to the Morrigans but quickly regained ball possession and dominated the first half of the game. Jane Sachs had an early break-through to advance the WWRFC close to the try line. A few phases later, Laura Hanks finished the job and scored the first try of the game, three minutes in.

Emily Frerichs had a long run down the sideline and would have scored a try except that she accidentally ran through the dead ball line because the try zone was shorter than usual. In response, Mary Hanks broke through the line, off-loading to veteran fly-half, Meghan Odling, who finished the play with a try.

Soon after, Kelly Mullen scored a try after three consecutive off-loads from her teammates. This play highlighted the WWRFC’s strength as a fast-moving, dynamic team and open playing style.

On the ensuing kick-off, Melissa (Helga) Polheber ran 40m to regain field position. This made it possible for winger Rebecca Stillman to score in the corner, for one more before the end of the half. Throughout the first half, the WWRFC dominated the scrums and was adjusting well to the new IRB scrummage rules. However, the Morrigans failed to engage correctly and the novice referee changed the scrums to uncontested for the majority of the game. This change affected the WWRFC’s momentum and made them frustrated and tentative going into the second half, despite their sizable lead.

In the early parts of the second half, scoring was hard to find. Both teams were plagued with penalties and the game lost the fluidity of the first half. The Morrigans picked up their game and rallied to gain good field position a number of times but were quickly pushed back to their end each time by a solid WWRFC defense. The WWRFC forwards managed to get two more tries in the second half, one by Kris Petersen and another by Melissa “Helga” Polheber.

The Morrigans’ outstanding full back, Sarah Kish, managed to get one try on the board near the end of the game. Elisa Becker made 5 of 6 conversion attempts for a final score of 40-7. The WWRFC played all 22 players on their roster and had positive contributions from all. Backs captain Lily Khadempour was not able to play due to a pulled hamstring and forwards captain Naida Reise came out in the first half because of bronchitis. The team stepped up and showed their depth which will prove useful as the team hopes to advance to Division II National Championships.

Line up:
1. Nadia Riese
2. Emily “Mouth” Mastandrea
3. Elisa Becker
4. Melissa “Helga” Polheber
5. Laura Hanks
6. Sarah Whaley
7. Amanda Stoltz
8. Steph Maule
9. Mary Hanks
10. Meghan Odling
11. Emily Frerichs
12. Jane Sachs
13. Kelly Mullen
14. Rebecca Stillman
15. Shoshana Griffith
16. Ericka Becker
17. Jenny Pederson
18. Kris Petersen
19. Michelle Blaser
20. Anne Sophie Daloz
21. Tracy Francis
22. Jess Winkler

Wisconsin will open its 2012 Division II league campaign this Saturday, September 8, in Manhattan, Illinois.

Kickoff versus the Will County Morrigans is at 11 a.m. at Manhattan Central Park.

Wisconsin last met Will County at home on September 24 last year and claimed a 29-12 victory against the visiting Morrigans.

Wisconsin opened up its Fall 2012 season scoring 15 tries Saturday to cruise to a 92-0 victory against the Chicago Sirens and a 5-5 tie against the Minneapolis Menagerie.

In a friendly round-robin of Midwest Division II women’s teams hosted by the Milwaukee Scylla at the Gun Club pitch on the shores of Lake Michigan, Wisconsin played a 60-minute match against Chicago and turned around to play a 30-minute match against Minneapolis.

Five Wisconsin players scored tries on the day with wings Kelly Mullen and Emi Frerichs leading the charge with five tries a piece between the two games. Prop/Hooker Elisa Becker nailed 11 of 15 conversions in the games to help her team.

After a hour-long game delay in 80-degree heat due to a lack of lines on the field, Wisconsin kicked off aggressively against their Midwest opponent and Mullen opened up scoring against Chicago just 30 seconds after the kick. Wisconsin’s backline picked apart the Chicago defense throughout the match with tries scored both down the middle of the field and wide out. The Wisconsin forwards suffered a few injuries in the pack, but rallied throughout the match to maintain ball possession and turned over several Siren rucks.

The team took a brief 15-minute rest following the victory to catch its breath, drink some water, and discuss strategy before kicking off against the always competitive Menagerie. Both Wisconsin and Minneapolis were qualifiers to the 2011 Midwest Championships held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania last fall. Wisconsin finished second and Minneapolis finished fourth.

Wisconsin’s second game saw the Menagerie’s fresh legs score first in the match after several minutes of strong defense by Wisconsin, including a held-up scrum drive, a stopped 8-man pick and strong runs by the Minneapolis centers shut down. A missed conversion kept the score at just 5-0.

Both teams battled hard and shut down a number of scoring opportunities, but Wisconsin finally cracked through into the Menagerie try zone on a hands-out series to Emi Frerichs on the wing. The play started off some strong rucks from the Wisconsin forwards followed by a massive crash by inside center Laura Hanks. A quick ruck off the Hanks ball winged the ball out wide to Meaghan White and Frerichs to dive over the line.

The short game ended in a 5-5 tie with Wisconsin considering the difference in scoring against the Menagerie had the team also had fresh legs. The rest of the day saw the Milwaukee Scylla go on to defeat both the Menagerie and the Sirens as well.

Wisconsin named Emi Frerichs as its Woman of the Match for her great playing and five tries.

Wisconsin rests this weekend and will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of its brother team, the Wisconsin Rugby Club, at the WRC Sports Complex. Wisconsin opens up its league season on the road against the Will County Morrigans on the road in Illinois on Saturday, September 8. They’ll see the Chicago Sirens again on Saturday, September 22 in Madison for Wisconsin’s Alumni weekend.

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Wisconsin Women – 92
Chicago Sirens – 0

Wisconsin Tries – Tonya Achter, Emi Frerichs (4), Laura Hanks, Kelly Mullen (5), Meghan White (3),
Wisconsin Conversions – Elisa Becker, 11 of 14

Wisconsin Women – 5
Minneapolis Menagerie – 5

Wisconsin Tries – Emi Frerichs
Wisconsin Conversions– Elisa Becker, 0 of 1