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DSHA Leads Going Into Wisc Girls Playoffs

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DSHA Leads Going Into Wisc Girls Playoffs

DSHA, in red, is undefeated this fall. Kathy Barczak photo.

The Wisconsin Girls HS playoffs begin this weekend and all eyes, as usual, are on Divine Savior Holy Angels.

The Milwaukee-area private school has several national championships in their history and once again look to be the team to beat in the Badger State. DSHA went 4-0 in the regular season, beating Brookfield, Fond du Lac, Kettle Moraine, and Appleton by significant margins. The closest game DSHA had was an early-season non-conference clash with Catholic Memorial, won by DSHA 33-0. 

Catholic Memorial went on to go 4-0 in league play in their conference.

“We doing well,” said DSHA Head Coach John Klein. “Wisconsin is a strong state for girls rugby. Our scores have been big, but the games have been really hard, really physical. Our girls are kind of beat up.”

DSHA and Catholic Memorial have a strong rivalry. Kathy Barczak photos.
DSHA 2016 Kathy Barzcak
DSHA 2016 Kathy Barzcak

DSHA’s superior skill and team unity have shown through. At the point of contact, most teams are tough, but many don’t have the athleticism, or skill execution to break through the DSHA defensive line.

“We’ve got a talented group of young ladies, and when you’re confident in all of your players you can play a very varied game,” said Klein. “Our defense is very, very good right now. But we can play offense, and we can play wide and if we need to we can play a tight offense, too.”

Genevieve Ruesch, Danielle Macpherson, and Sara Clark are among a talented leadership group who get DSHA moving forward. Even without Tara Sweeney, who is injured, they have not missed a beat.

“We’ve got lots of experience, and we’re playing defense the way I want us to play it,” said Klein.

On Friday, DSHA plays the state semi against Oak Creek, which finished 2-2 in the Classic Five Conference, getting the 2nd place spot thanks to a tiebreaker over Pulaski.

(Oak Creek, Pulaski, and DSHA JVs all finished 2-2, but with DSHA JVs not eligible for the championship playoffs anyway, it came down to head-to-head between Oak Creek and Pulaski, and Oak Creek beat Pulaski 22-12.)

On Saturday, Catholic Memorial takes on Brookfield, which finished 3-1 in the North-South Conference, losing only to Divine Savior.