The Great Waters Women's Rugby Conference (GWRC) is a collegiate rugby conference with 19 teams across Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. The conference includes teams from both Division II and Division III, with automatic berths for its winners into the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) regional playoffs.
Sometimes, one of the best things a team can do is lose. That’s what happened with UW Steven’s Point during the final week of the Great Waters regular season. Its opponent, UW Eau Claire, wasn’t going to the post-season, but that didn’t dilute its aggressive work at the breakdown and fringe, nor the impact of center Robin Blevins and flanker Janee Kutz. The Blue Golds served Steven’s Point a 17-10 loss a week before the conference championship.
“All field, style, and player issues aside, we should have won,” UW Steven’s Point Gray Zischke reported. “To Eau Claire’s credit, they were ready to play. But our team concentration was poor, and in general, an attitude of overconfidence dug our own grave.”
While this is the second year that Great Waters has hosted a two-pool, 14-team league, it is the competition’s first season as a hybrid league. Two of the divisions’ best – DII’s UW Stevens Point and NSCRO’s UW Platteville – squared off on Saturday, and UWSP exited with a 38-0 win to secure first in the northern pool. UWSP has not lost a conference game since October 2012 and will return to the Northern Lights championship (Nov. 7) in pursuit of a third-straight title.
“I was very concerned about this match and challenged the team to come up with a ‘shutdown’ defensive effort,” UW Stevens Point coach Gray Zischke informed. “The match was one of the toughest we have had this year, and the final score was not an indication of how close the match was.”
UW-Stevens Point won the Great Waters Conference in women's DII college rugby this past weekend, beatin UW-Whitewater 92-5 in the championship game.
Both teams entered the game unbeaten in conference play at 6-0. Whitewater had dominated the South Division, allowing only one try in six matches and averaging 48 points per game. Stevens Point was equally impressive in the North. So when the two teams met at the Cottage Grove Rugby Complex near Madison, Wisc., it looked as if this would be a tight game. It wasn't.
Led by seniors Jade Bricco (No. 8), Ashley Nemoir (scrumhald), Lisa Moehlman (flyhalf), Bree Valenza (inside center), and Maggie Armstrong (outside center), all Wisconsin U23 elect side players, and with Catholic Memorial product Maggie Armstrong also playing well, Stevens Point controlled the game.
