ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University Women's Rugby team (3-4) earned the third seed for the the D1A Playoffs and will battle the second-seeded Lindenwood Lady Lions (8-1) in the semifinals with the Wildcats heading to St. Charles, Mo. and Hunter Stadium for an 8:00 a.m. PST kick-off against the Lady Lions.
"It's tough not to be excited about playoff time," CWU Head Women's Rugby Coach Matt Ramirez said. "It's a brand-new season full of new opportunities. The focus and challenge for the team is finding the detail in everything to win the moments. I'm excited to get to work with the squad as we prep for Saturday."
The Wildcats will look to implement their lessons they learned in a setback last weekend in the season finale north of the border at the Canadian USPORTS National Champions, the UBC Thunderbirds. CWU saw tries from
Jessica Postle,
Vivianne Wright, and
Ane Eteuini while Postle tacked on a penalty kick and two conversion kicks in the 55-22 setback.
CWU hosted Lindenwood back on March 8 where the Lions came out on top 41-14. The Lions struck first just four minutes into the game to give them the quick 5-0 lead. In the 25th minute
Jessica Postle put CWU on the board with a penalty kick making it 5-3, but Lindenwood responded just over a minute later with a try and conversion kick to put the Lions up 12-3. In the 28th minute
Winnie Namosimalua powered her way to the 'Cats first try of the match followed by Postle successfully drilling the conversion kick which made it 12-10 LU. The Lions added one more try and conversion before the halftime buzzer to send the teams to halftime with Lindenwood leading 19-10. Lindenwood earned the first points of the second half at the 57th minute mark to make it 24-10 Lions. Postle added to her resume on the day with a try of her own in the 62nd minute to make it 24-15 LU. However, the Lions were able to keep the Wildcats away from the try line while adding three tries of their own to seal the victory.
The Lions are 8-1 on the season with their sole setback coming at home to Life by a 29-24 score. Last weekend Lindenwood got revenge on the Running Eagles, handing Life their first loss of the season by a 27-24 score on the road in Georgia. The Lady Lions saw Freda Tafuna nominated for the MA Sorensen Award as a nominee with Postle from the Wildcats.
The winner of this match will move on to the D1A Championship against the winner of top-seeded Life and fourth-seeded BYU.
