WPL Nationals on the Horizon: First Round Action on Friday

The 2016 Women's Premier League regular season has concluded, and the National Tournament peers over the horizon. This season saw a shake-up in the standings. Perennial favorites, and last year's conference winners, Glendale and Twin Cities, were bested by two clubs that haven't fared so well in the WPL in recent years, and last year's WPL National Runner-Up, Berkeley, finished last in the West Conference. 

As a San Diego Surfer, I'm not going to pretend to give an unbiased report or prediction here. In fact, my bias says, "Nope Sam, don't even delve into predictions." So, I just want to give a brief run-down of what the women's rugby community will see in the first round of the WPL Nationals on Friday.

The regular season wrapped up with New York on top of the East Conference and San Diego winning the West. Last year New York finished in 4th place in the WPL Nationals and the Surfers 5th. With some lineup additions and polished veterans returning on each squad, both are now the top contenders for a National Championship. 

The two top seeds will have the two late games on Friday evening. New York will face the defending National Champions, Glendale, and San Diego will take on the Amazons. New York comes into the tournament undefeated, with the lowest Points Against total in the league, but may have their biggest challenge of the season, to date, on Friday. Glendale, after taking their only loss of the season, in their final match of the regular season, will be hungry to get back on track and defend their National Title. 

The Amazons had quite the challenge in their final match of the regular season, when their match against Atlanta went down to the wire. Averaging about 35 points a game, they will look to use their physicality to get on the board against the Surfers. On the other end of the field, the Surfers have scored more than any other team in the league (about 58 points a game), and outscored their opponents by an average of 41 points a game. 

In the lower tier, there will be no shortage of good rugby. Berkeley will meet Atlanta in the first match of the day. Though Atlanta only have two wins on the season, their last match, in which they nearly upset the Amazons, proved that they've continued to grow over the course of the season. Berkeley also had a down-to-the-wire thriller in their last match, in playing ORSU to within 12 points. Both teams are looking to build on their end of the season momentum. 

The second match of the day will see ORSU take on the DC Furies. The Furies, like Berkeley couldn't manage to pull out a win on the season, but they will be hungry for one on Friday. ORSU played in a tough West Conference, and though they couldn't break into the top 4, they hope to win the bottom tier. 

Hopefully, I'll have a chance to recap the games for all of my loyal readers (all 6 of you) on Saturday, and I won't hold back my commentary in the recaps. If you want to catch the games yourself, just head to The Rugby Channel. Games start at 10am EST.