ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University women's rugby team travels to Glendale, Colorado for a fixture against Life University as part of the Women's Premier League Championship weekend.
 
MATCH INFORMATION
Vs Life University
Saturday, November 2
3:00 p.m. MT
Infinity Park
Glendale, CO
 
QUOTABLE
"What an opportunity we have in front of us," CWU Head Coach Trevor Richards said. 
Life University has been on the forefront of collegiate rugby for years and for good reason.  They are well coached with great athletes and a fighting spirit that will test our players from kick-off to the final whistle.  For us, we are only a month into our season and so we are by no means the polished product that we aim to be at playoffs in April.  It's a long road to then but this next hurdle is an important one in our development.  As a coach, I am quite eager to get a true reflection of where we are as a team; Life will keep us honest and let us know where we are in our progression.  Our success will be dictated by ruthless defense, ball security, and winning the point of contact.  If we can win those three components, we should have a good day at the office."
 
SCOUTING LIFE UNIVERSITY | SCHEDULE | ROSTER
The Running Eagles played their first fixture of the 2019-20 campaign back on September 28 when they handily defeated Penn State University 44-12.  Life has recorded a 3-1 record thus far with the only loss coming to Lindenwood.
 
After taking down Penn State, the Running Eagles travelled to Lindenwood where the Lions gave the Running Eagles the same treatment they had given to the Nittany Lions.  Lindenwood captured a 41-5 victory over Life. 
 
Life University then defeated the USA South All-Stars, 65-12, before recording a 48-0 shutout victory over the Atlanta Harlequins.
 
CWU v LIFE HISTORY
Central Washington and Life have met four times since 2015.  Life holds a 3-1 record and have won the last three fixtures against the Wildcats. 
 
The last time the Running Eagles and Wildcats met, Life came away with a nail-biting 22-20 victory in a 7's matchup.  Life's largest margin of victory over Central Washington is seven, coming in a 22-15 victory on September 30, 2017.
 
WOMEN'S PREMIER CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND
From USA Rugby:
Jamie Burke, former Women's USA Eagle, current assistant coach for the Women's National Team and Glendale Merlins had this to say about the eventual championship weekend. "The competition has been fierce this fall with the East coast seeing all teams having wins and all teams having losses and the West Coast seeing multiple tight score lines that went down to the wire.  That's the type of exciting rugby we want the WPL to represent. It is exciting to be hosting nationals at Glendale's Infinity Park rugby complex this fall and we're excited to showcase the best in women's rugby.  We're really looking to make it the pinnacle event for domestic rugby with the WPL representing but also incorporating D1 Elite programs into the weekend so that those high caliber collegiate athletes can see what the potential next steps for their rugby career."
Infinity Park has previously hosted the championship weekend before, and the continuous opportunity to host this tournament, others like it, would not be possible if it weren't for the stellar efforts of the WPL, its clubs and their high-performance referee team. In combination with the world class support offered by RugbyTown USA's staff and the city of Glendale, November's contest is shaping up to be something special.