The Glendale Raptor Women’s DI team traveled to Austin, Texas Sunday for their most significant test of the season: a challenge match against the Women’s Premier League’s Minnesota Valkyries.

The WPL is the highest level of domestic women’s rugby. The Raptors earned the right to challenge for a spot after finishing second in USA Rugby’s Women’s Division I championship. The Valkyries placed eighth in the Premier League, opening them up to a challenge and setting up the showdown in Texas.

Conditions did not favor the running Raptors, as freezing rain persisted throughout the entire match — the field quickly deteriorated into a patchwork of grass, puddles and mud. The Valkyries took early control of the match, using their superior size and strength to maintain possession and keep the attack tight. Nine minutes into the match, the Valkyries struck first, as flyhalf Sarah Chobot took a hard, slicing blind run off of a Valkyries scrum.

Glendale struck back five minutes later, when an offsides penalty allowed Hannah Stolba to slot a three-point penalty kick. Moments later, Stolba connected with number 8 Jillion Potter for her first try of the game, as the Raptors took a 12-5 lead and never surrendered it.

Prior to the end of the half, the Valkyries attempted a clearing kick, which fell into the arms of wing Tyra McGrady. McGrady attacked the far side of the field and connected with Stolba, who put Potter in the try zone. The Raptors entered halftime up 17-5.

Watch the match replay, courtesy of Your Scrumhalf Connection.

The rain continued to come down — a welcome end to the Texas drought, but a tough environment for rugby. As the drain of running in the cold, muddy conditions took its toll, the Raptors speed and fitness asserted itself. Glendale used more tactical kicks, and continued to challenge the Valkyries with line breaks in the midfield and at the fringe.

After a sacked lineout and a series of tight attacks, the “Valks”’ midfield defense broke, and inside center Bethany Humphrey accelerated through a gap to score directly beneath the posts to bring the score to 24-5.

The Valks picked things up for a burst, with hard runs and half-breaks by Chobot and number 8 Lauren Daley, but eventually a loose ball found its way into lock Jaimie Lange’s hands, who attacked a hole at the fringe and continued 40 meters, evading two defenders before offloading in the tackle to Kitt Wagner for the try.

The Raptors continued to punish the Valkyries’ errors, and the next try again came from a turnover in contact. The Raptors quickly split and attacked the short side with centers Bethany Humphrey and Bethany Wilson. Wilson had another of several long breaks, and with the Valks still scrambling, moved the ball back to the middle of the fields through Wagner’s hands to Stolba for her second try. Stolba scored her third try of the game shortly after, as a strong-side pick from Potter opened up space for Stolba under the posts. With 10 minutes still to go, the Raptors had extended their lead, putting the score at 43-5.

Shorly after the next kick reception, a Valks penalty saw the ball go through the Raptors’ hands into replacment wing Jill Reilly, who broke down the sidelines. The Raptors produced a quick ball after the ensuing breakdown, and Stolba pitched to Katie Janus, who tag-teamed back and forth with Wagner before finding the right angle to strike at and dive into the try zone.

In one of the final exchanges of the game, while scrumhalf Robin Roberts was pinned on the ground, Tyra McGrady put a perfect spin pass into the hands of Bethany Humphrey, who along with her center partner Bethany Wilson, attacked again up the blind side. Wilson made a long break, and kicked twice past the covering defense. She recovered her kick and pitched to Wagner, who offloaded to Stolba for the try. There was a valiant attempt by the Valks defense to stop Stolba with an ankle tackle, but she stepped out of the contact and into the try zone for her fourth try, and the Raptors eighth.

When the final whistle blew, the score stood at 53-5.

“This was the right way to end our season. The team was very disappointed about dropping the DI final and committed to improving our support skills and our commitment to the team game plan,” said Head Coach Lisa Rosen. “We knew the pressure would be on the Valks to perform, and decided we to experiment with some fun attacking tactics to lighten everyone’s mood and play more creatively. It’s tough to enjoy any game in the freezing rain, but everyone came off the field smiling, satisfied that we had finally peaked.”

The Raptors won the challenge match without several regulars — Sarah Edwards is in Cuba playing 7s with the Atlantis invitational side, Captain Sarah Wilson is recovering from a shoulder injury, and team try-scoring leader Andrea Prusinski was unavailable.

“The key to this match was depth and conditioning — the later the season goes on, the tougher it is to keep putting out a strong roster. Running a regular D2 side this season instead of playing B-side matches has been instrumental in ensuring that every player who traveled was fully prepared and up to standard for this match. Going into the spring, recruitment and development of players through the D2 program will be a big part of our activities, as well as further preparing our team for a new level of competition. The WPL will be tough, but we believe it is where we belong.”