The Glendale Women earned the territorial title this past weekend with a 41-24 victory over the Austin Valkyeries.

Glendale earned a berth in the final with a 71-0 victory over the St Louis Sabres on Saturday in a match that saw 11 tries from Hannah Birge (2), Claire Gregorich (2), Andrea Prusinski (1), Bethany Zick-Wilson (3), Taryn Brennan (3), and 5 conversions from Yvonne Johnston, and 3 from Sara Edwards.

"The team's been working hard on its ability to penetrate the midfield, and it's really paying off," states coach Lisa.

The Austin Valkyeries took on Denver's Black Ice on Saturday, earning their spot in the final with a 24-12 victory. Sunday's matchup was a contrast in styles, with Austin's bigger, more physical pack taking the edge keeping the ball tight and their crashing centers hammering the ball up the middle.

"We've been working very hard on our defense, and despite Austin's superior size, our skill at the tackle area and our commitment to attack from turnovers, kept us in the tightly contested game."

The scoring started out early in the first half, as #13 Bethany Zick-Wilson cherry picked a pass on the 50 and raced all the way to the goal line. Austin answered almost immediately with a kick and chase attack. A quick pass from the ruck caught the Glendale defense scrambling and tied the game 7-7. Five minutes later, under tremendous pressure, wing Andrea Prusinski accelerated through several defenders to place the ball in the corner and put Glendale ahead. The try was converted to put Glendale in the lead 14-7. As was typical of the back and forth game, Austin quickly returned the try by moving the ball quickly away from a driving scrum to sore just beyond the posts.

Shortly after the open half kickoff, #8 Taryn Brennan picked the ball off the base of the scrum and raced down the short side of the field. 15 meters from the goal line she offloaded to fullback Claire Gregorich, who dotted down in the corner to put Glendale back in the lead 19-14. The game continued it's back and forth nature, with Austin answering Glendale's attacking drives with a pushover try and a penalty kick to put Austin in the lead 24-22.

After kicking deep into Austin's territory, Glendale attacked the midfield off a lineout, and two ensuing passes from Bethany Humphreys and Bethany Zick-Wilson put fullback Claire Gregorich in the tryzone and Glendale ahead, 29-24. That was all for Austin. Glendale’s superior fitness and bench depth showed as Glendale then scored 3 tries in less than 10 minutes to finish the game with a 41-24 score-line.

The score certainly doesn't reflect the competitiveness of the game. It was only late in the game that Glendale really recognized Austin's defensive gaps in the center and really exploited them. Glendale’s ability to maintain discipline, play their pattern, and keep the game pace high until the 80th minute, made the difference today. It all came down to the last 15 minutes and Glendale prevailed.

Next up for Glendale are friendly matches against Boulder and ORSU, before traveling to Chicago to face the mid-west's top two teams in our Regional Championship. With this weekend’s performance, Glendale has qualified for a spot at nationals. The matches in Chicago will determine the Raptors national seeding going into the November National Championship.