The Wisconsin Women travel today by plane and car to Pittsburgh, Pa., and the 2011 Midwest Division 2 Women’s Championships.

The Championships are held at the Trafford Bridge Sports Complex and hosted by the Pittsburgh Angels.

Two games will be held Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s Game 1 sees hosts Pittsburgh play the Minneapolis Menagerie at 10:30 a.m. EST. Game 2 will see Wisconsin play Buffalo (NY) at noon. The teams are seeded as follows: 1. Wisconsin, 2. Minneapolis, 3. Pittsburgh, 4. Buffalo.

The winners of Saturday’s games will meet for the Championship match at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday with the consolation match held earlier at 10 a.m.

Wisconsin will need to win both games to qualify for the USA Rugby D-2 National Championships held in Virginia Beach, Va., November 11-13.

Updates will be posted as they are available. Check the team’s facebook page for the most timely updates.

In the team’s final home match of the 2011 fall season, Wisconsin welcomed a familiar foe to the pitch for a qualifying battle to the Midwest Final Four. Despite a close game earlier this season that saw the Wisconsin Women nip the Palmer Women on the road by just one point, this Saturday’s match was nearly all Wisconsin with a 38-5 victory for the women in red.

Wisconsin used patience and much-improved continuity across the field to run in five tries as they picked apart Palmer’s defense. Flanker Meg Dickoff scored two tries and her hard running earned her Woman of the Match honors (the much-coveted Wonder Woman silk robe!). Hooker Elisa Becker was perfect on the day scoring five for five on conversions and adding a penalty kick for 13 of the team’s 38 points.

The red scrum was dominant throughout the match and saw Palmer choosing lineouts in very windy conditions when presented with the option of scrum versus lineout.

Wisconsin improved to a 5-0 overall record in Midwest Division II play and this playoff victory clinched a trip to Pittsburgh, Penn., for the Midwest Championships, October 29-30. Wisconsin earned the top seed in the Championship bracket and will play the fourth-seeded Buffalo Women in the second game on that Saturday. The first game will see #2 Minneapolis Menagerie play home team and the #3 seed Pittsburgh Angels. The winners of these two matches will meet on Sunday to play for the Midwest berth to the USA Rugby D-II National Championships in Virginia, November 12-13. More details will be available as the team is notified.

Photos from Mary Hanks camera and shot by the stupendous Dana Gordon. Big thanks also to the UW-Whitewater Women, UW-Stout Women and UW-Madison Women’s teams for joining in a mixed b-side match following our playoff game.

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Wisconsin Women – 38
Palmer Women – 5

Click Here for Midwest D-II Women’s Conference Results.

Wisconsin Tries – Meaghan White, Nadia Riese, Laura Hanks, Meg Dickoff (2)

Wisconsin Conversions – Elisa Becker (5)

Wisconsin Penalty Kick – Elisa Becker

Palmer Try – 1

Palmer Conversion – none

Wisconsin Woman of the Match – Meg Dickoff

Wisconsin Woman Bear Mauler of the Match – ?

Team Lineup:

1. Amanda Evenstone
2. Elisa Becker
3. Jackie Neubert
4. Justine Stewart
5. Liz Robinson
6. Sarah Whaley
7. Meg Dickoff
8. Mary Hanks
9. Jenn Johnson
10. Meaghan White
11. Rebecca “Reba” Stillman
12. Jane Sachs
13. Laura Hanks
14. Kelly Mullen
15. Shoshana Griffith
16. Melissa “Helga” Polheber
17. Nicole Helmer
18. Nadia Riese
19. Terri Russell
20. Sammy Clevenger
21. Brittany Martin
22. Michelle “Mike” Blaser
23. Jenny Pederson
Additional Awesome Teammates: Dana Gordon, JP Prigge, Emma Zoch, Sydney Nick, Kelly Clerkin (Coaching), Jessica Burda (B-side Coaching)

The Wisconsin Women defeated the visiting County Will Morrigans, 29-12, and the Oconomowoc Women, 46-15, on Saturday, September 24.

Hosting the two matches at the Wisconsin Rugby Club Sports Complex in Cottage Grove, Wis., Wisconsin’s hard-fought victory against the Morrigans marks the third Midwest Division II league win of the season. The win retains Wisconsin’s first-place standing in the Midwest’s Western Division Central League.

Wisconsin welcomed Oconomowoc in a second friendly match and saw great play from our new and less experienced players in a match of 10s. Oconomowoc is a younger team formed just two years ago. Following the matches, all three women’s teams joined the Wisconsin Rugby Club men in a social after the guys defeated the Chicago Westside Condors, 45-10.

[Your dedicated webmaster was busy coaching the UW Women so specific details on the games are limited. The Morrigans were noted to be a very physical team to play and play got a bit “thuggish” at times. Oconomowoc brought 10 players so the friendly was only two 20-minute periods. Wisconsin’s new players were “so awesome” and Dana Gordon pleasantly surprised all with her great kicking against Oconomowoc.]

Wisconsin travels to St. Cloud, Minn., this Saturday, October 1 for the final league match of the season against the St. Cloud Sirens. The Sirens are a new team in the league formed from alumni of the St. Cloud collegiate team. Wisconsin needs to win the match to guarantee home-field advantage for the first round of Midwest playoffs on Saturday, October 15. The top Central League team hosts the No. 2 team from the Northern League (likely the Palmer Women), while the top Northern League team hosts the No. 2 from the Central League.

The Playoff winners then travel to Pittsburgh, Penn., on October 29 and 30 to meet the Eastern Division’s top two women’s team in the Midwest Championships. This is the final step towards advancing to the USA Rugby Division II Women’s National Championships November 12-13 in Virginia Beach, Va.

Wisconsin has also opted to cancel the schedule match against Chicago North on October 8 in Chicago. The team will rest in preparation for hopefully hosting the Midwest Playoff match.

Big thanks to Wisconsin’s Emma Zoch for her excellent statistics! Heal up quick Emma!

These photos were totally stolen from Liz Robinson. Thanks Liz!

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Wisconsin Women – 29
County Will Morrigans – 12

Click here for Midwest D-II Conference Results and Standings.

Wisconsin Tries – Jane Sachs, Meg Dickoff, Meaghan White (2), Shoshana Griffith.

Wisconsin Conversions – Elisa Becker (2)

County Will Tries – #15 (2)

County Will Conversion – #13

Team Lineup Not Available.

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Wisconsin Women – 46
Oconomowoc Women – 15

Wisconsin Tries – Emily Frerichs (3), Brittany Martin (2), Meg Dickoff, Michelle “Mike” Blaser, Melissa “Helga” Polheber

Wisconsin Conversions – Sammy Clevenger, Dana Gordon (2)

Oconomowoc Tries – #3, #10 (2)

Oconomowoc Conversions – none

The Wisconsin Women defeated the visiting Milwaukee Scylla, 41-5, at the Crossroads Rugby Field in Madison on Saturday, September 17.

Wisconsin improves to 2-0 in Midwest Division 2 league play and will welcome the County Will Morrigans to Madison this Saturday, September 24 at 1 p.m. The day will offer up a second friendly game with Wisconsin also playing the Oconomowoc Women at 2:30 p.m. Both games will be held at the Wisconsin Rugby Club Sports Complex in nearby Cottage Grove, Wis.

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Wisconsin Women – 41
Milwaukee Scylla – 5

Click here for Midwest D-2 Conference Results and Standings (usually updated within a week)

Wisconsin Tries – Meaghan Odling, Jane Sachs, Mary Hanks, Laura Hanks, Shoshana Griffith

Wisconsin Conversions – Elisa Becker

Scylla Try – Ashley Kogutkiewicz

Wisconsin Woman of the Match (aka Wonder Woman) – Rebecca Stillman

Wisconsin Woman Bear Mauler of the Match – Sarah Whaley

Team Lineup:

1. Justine Stewart
2. Elisa Becker
3. Jessica Burda
4. Jenny Pederson
5. Sammy Clevenger
6. Sarah Whaley
7. Jenn Johnson
8. Mary Hanks (Captain)
9. Rebecca Stillman
10. Meaghan White (Captain)
11. Terri Russell
12. Jane Sachs
13. Laura Hanks
14. Brittany Martin
15. Shoshana Griffith
16. Amanda Evenstone
17. Emily Frerichs
18. Dana Gordon
19. Devin McGuire
Awesome Injured Reserves: Mollie Overby, Liz Robinson, Nadia Riese and Nicole Helmer

Photos by the awesome Hanks family!

The Wisconsin Women kicked off their Fall 2011 Division 2 league season with a come-from-behind victory against the Palmer Women, 30-29.

Traveling south to Davenport, Iowa, Wisconsin brought a small roster to take on the Palmer Women on Saturday, September 10.

The opposing team was comprised of students from Palmer Chiropractic College and is a sister team to the Palmer Men, a Division I powerhouse. Palmer Women recently started offering scholarships to their players, a rare opportunity for senior women’s rugby athletes.

Palmer opened up scoring on the kickoff with a strong run by their inside center to wake up the Wisconsin Women. The women in red opted to take points a few minutes later with a penalty kick by new Wisconsin player Elisa Becker (a Madison, Wis., native and Cornell Women’s Rugby grad).

Team captains Meaghan White and Mary Hanks each scored a try to keep their team in the match. Scoring continued to roll back and forth throughout the match, but Wisconsin found themselves entering the second half down on the scoreboard and tapping into their few remaining reserve players after a key shoulder injury in the first half to outside center Nicole Helmer.

Palmer held a two-try lead with 25 minutes left in the half and kept up a scrambling attack in their backline with nice continuity and deep kicks. But Palmer’s forwards and overall team rucking soon lost steam as Wisconsin finally shook off the rust of a long summer away from 15s rugby.

Fresh from the UW-Madison Women’s Rugby team, new Wisconsin Scrumhalf Rebecca Stillman tapped down a much-needed Wisconsin try after five back-to-back crashing attacks by the visiting team in Palmer’s five-meter zone. An all-team effort, Stillman’s try provided the spark Wisconsin needed to rally back into the match.

Wisconsin’s attack pressed with great continuity across the field and the red forwards began to pound Palmer’s pack in each ruck, winning the majority of ball. Wisconsin hooker Michelle “Mike” Blaser also stole a number of Palmer scrums in addition to some Palmer lineouts as Wisconsin’s jumper. Growing up in nearby DeWitt, Iowa, Blaser’s family was welcomed into Wisconsin’s small fan contingent on the road.

Palmer’s defense started to falter as the minutes ticked down and allowed two more Wisconsin tries by Jessica Burda and new lock Justine Stewart (Brown University) respectively to clinch the 30-29 victory. The final Wisconsin try was Justine Stewart’s first-ever try and she pleasantly surprised all of her new Wisconsin teammates by running in a perfectly-centered score blazing through the Palmer defense.

Wisconsin was also extremely proud of its other new players – flanker Sarah Whaley (UW-Madison), wing Brittany Martin (University of Montana), lock Sammy Clevenger (UW-Stevens Point) and super water runner Mollie Overby on injured reserve. The team also welcomed back teammate Jane Sachs who recently returned from Philadelphia, PA and the Philly Women’s Rugby team.

For their outstanding efforts on the field, Elisa Becker earned Wisconsin’s much-coveted Wonder Woman silk robe as Woman of the Match and Michelle “Mike” Blaser earned the new Bear Mauler trophy (a bear statue found recently in Coach Kyle’s grandma’s basement).

Wisconsin returns home this Saturday, September 17 to play their in-state rivals the Milwaukee Scylla (and by rivals, we mean good rugby buddies!). Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at the Crossroads Rugby Field on Madison’s east side.

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Wisconsin Women – 30
Palmer Women – 29

Click here for Midwest D-2 Conference Results and Standings (hopefully updated soon)

Wisconsin Tries – Meaghan White, Mary Hanks, Rebecca Stillman, Jessica Burda, Justine Stewart
Wisconsin Conversions – Elisa Becker (1)
Wisconsin Penalty Kicks – Elisa Becker (1)

Wisconsin Woman of the Match aka “Wonder Woman” – Elisa Becker
Wisconsin Woman Bear Mauler of the Match – Michelle “Mike” Blaser

Team Lineup

1. Elisa Becker

2. Michelle “Mike” Blaser

3. Amanda Evenstone

4. Jenny Pederson

5. Jessica Burda

6. Sarah Whaley

7. Meg Dickoff

8. Mary Hanks (Captain)

9. Rebecca Stillman

10. Meaghan Odling

11. Brittany Martin

12. Jane Sachs

13. Nicole Helmer

14. Terry Russell

15. Shoshana Griffith

16. Sammy Clevenger

17. Justine Stewart

18. Nadia Riese (Injured Reserve/Awesome Coach for the Day)

19. Mollie Overby (Injured Reserve/Wonderful Water Runner)