Women’s Division 2 – September 2025 Recap

Welcome back to another season of USA Club Rugby and another round of monthly recaps hosted by yours truly. After a scintillating summer of sevens rugby, the teams have headed back to the pitch to play XVs. Some conferences have changed, some have remained the same, some new clubs have entered the picture, others have closed doors, we’ll cover it all right here.

At the start of the year most of the action takes place in the Midwest and Northeast, but we’ll keep you in the loop with what’s happening in the Spring leagues as well. 

Also, the disclaimer (in case you’re new here), all of this information is gathered from team-entered data on RugbyXplorer. If something is wrong, it might just be because the data is incorrect in RugbyXplorer, otherwise it could be because I’m a human and sometimes make mistakes (yes, even me). I’m always open to correcting those mistakes if you reach out nicely! Outside of that, all of the commentary is added purely for fun from someone who has no stake in the outcomes of these matches. So sit down and enjoy as we cover what happened this past month in the Women’s D2 competition.

The Midwest splits their Women’s D2 into four different subdivisions: Eastern, Western, Northern, and Central. 

Starting in the Central league, we only have one team returning from last year, the rest have been sorted into different leagues or been promoted. This returner is also our top of the table, Fort Wayne (2-0). After going 2-3 last year, Fort Wayne sensed the unrest in the new division and immediately took the reins. They blanked the Chicago Sirens (2-1) 45-0 and smashed the Toledo Celtics (0-2) 62-15. The only team they haven’t played yet is the County Will Morrigans (0-1) who lost 24-15 to the Sirens. There’s only two league matches left before the 1v2 league final, and we expect it to be a Sirens vs Fort Wayne rematch.

The Western league last year was the original home of the County Will Morrigans and the Chicago Sirens, but has since lost them and added the Milwaukee Scylla. There haven’t been many matches played yet, but everyone has taken to the pitch at least once. The Scylla (2-0) are running rampant in their new home, having won both of their opening matches. They went 44-20 over Palmer College (1-1) and 84-17 over the Minneapolis Menagerie (0-2). Palmer beat Oconomowoc (1-1), who beat Wisconsin (1-1), who beat the Menagerie. So that’s more or less the standings in order. We might have already seen the top of the table match between the Scylla and Palmer, but I think some of the bottom of the table games will be more interesting. The regular season ends in October, we’re almost halfway there already.

Circling up to the Northern league, this is essentially last year’s Eastern league, the only change being Pittsburgh Forge is out. Last year’s undefeated team Buffalo (2-1) had a rude awakening this year, as they were bested 17-10 by the Rochester Renegades (3-0). Rochester had to fight for their wins, their last being a 21-17 battle against Uticuse (0-1). Buffalo bounced back though, they followed up that opening loss with a 29-10 win over Uticuse and a 46-17 win over South Buffalo (1-1). Unfortunately Buffalo and Rochester won’t play again, so Buffalo must rely on someone else overthrowing the Renegades before the end of the regular season. Their best chance might be South Buffalo who defeated the North Buffalo Ninjas (0-2) back on the 6th.

Our final league in this Midwest Women’s D2 Conference is the Eastern league, which has many of the teams from last year’s Central league. I’m not confused, you’re confused. This is where the Cleveland Iron Maidens, Dayton, Akron, and Columbus ended up, along with Pittsburgh Forge from the old Eastern. You’d think the Ohio teams were lucky enough to get away from the Iron Maidens (2-0) after they topped the league last year, but no dice. A 68-12 win over Akron (0-2) and a 35-7 win over the Columbus Squirrels (0-2) have shown that the Iron Maidens are picking up where they left off. The Pittsburgh Forge (2-0) settled in quite nicely with their own 73-0 win over Dayton (2-1) and the Squirrels. The Forge and the Maidens go head to head this weekend, so if you’re in for a good game of rugby, you’ll definitely want to catch that. The Squirrels and Akron also go head to head on Saturday. One will emerge with a win, and the other will likely go home winless this season. 

Games wrap up in October for the Midwest, and then playoffs begin. Champions will be decided before the end of the year, and we will cover it all right here.

The same four sides return to the Mid-America Women’s D2 this year; reigning champions, the St Louis Sabres, are joined by the KC Patriots, KC Jazz, and the Omaha Goats. The Sabres (1-0) started strong with a 68-0 walloping of the KC Jazz (1-1). McKenna O’Brien and Caroline Basler did well off the tee, sharing the kicking duties and slotting nine for ten conversions. The KC Jazz bounced back the next weekend edging by the KC Patriots (1-1) 24-19. The Patriots, in turn, notched their first win over the Omaha GOATS (0-1) 41-21. If this trend continues and the GOATS beat the Sabres, everyone will be nice and even at 1-1. I don’t think that will happen, mostly because those two don’t face off until October 11th, but also because the Sabres look very good this year. They made it to the final of the Super Regional last year, falling by three points to the Grand Rapids Growlers who have since moved to D1. You can bet the Sabres have it in their sights to go back to the Super Regional and win the hardware they were so close to last year. And that journey starts with becoming Mid-America Champions once again.

Exciting news in the Rocky Mountain as two new teams join the competition this year. The Littleton Lemons and the Colorado Springs Pikes Peaks will kickoff their debut campaigns against the Boulder Babes, the Salt City Slugs, and Denver Black Ice’s D2 side. There’s been a couple of matches so far, but RX isn’t updated yet, so I’m only going off of what I can find online. The Lemons (0-1) took on both the Slugs and the Pikes Peaks (1-0), while Denver Black Ice hosted the Slugs on September 6th. Pikes Peaks defeated the Lemons 37-5 according to social media, a strong start for Colorado Springs in their first D2 season. It doesn’t look like the Boulder Babes have started their season yet, but they went 4-0 last year so we are expecting big things again this year. Sorry for the lack of information, but as we mentioned at the start of this article, we can only go off the team-entered data provided to us on RugbyXplorer. Once it gets updated, we’ll update this article!

Rugby is in full swing in New England with seven Women’s D2 sides competing in a round-robin format. At the end of the season the top four move into semifinals and finals, so every win counts to earn their postseason slot.

Last year was a wild ride, the Worcester Shamrocks delivered when it came to championship minutes and managed to advance to the Atlantic Super Regional despite going 3-2 in the regular season and finishing third. This year, Providence (3-0) are the only undefeated team left after a perfect start to their season. In an exciting rematch of last year’s championship, Providence got their revenge on the Shamrocks (1-1); winger Ruby Sheets got on the scoreboard three times to propel her side to the 27-14 win. Although Worcester dropped that opening match, we all saw what they did last year, so there’s no reason one loss should stand in their way of a repeat title. The Albany Knickerbockers (1-1) finished second last year and are currently in third, they still have to play second place Worcester, which will happen at the end of October. The Knicks don’t have much until then; they play Burlington (0-1), and were scheduled to play Beantown, who has since folded. Hopefully Burlington gives them the warm-up they need to face the Shamrocks and secure their place in the semi-finals come November.

With only three Women’s D2 teams in the New York region, this conference combines D2 with D3 (non-National Championship-seeking) to provide teams with more game time. As Women’s D3 doesn’t have a USA Rugby National Championship (yet), I’ll stay focused on the D2 sides: Danbury, Brooklyn Hyenas, and New Haven. However I will touch on some D3 action as it is pertinent to the evolution of our D2 sides, much like I do with various friendly matches across the landscape. 

So far Danbury (2-1) and New Haven (2-1) have split their matches against each other. Back on September 6th Danbury got the better of New Haven with a 27-15 win, but last weekend the tables turned as it was New Haven’s turn to host. Thanks to two tries from scrumhalf Aunalise Anderson, New Haven pulled into the lead and held it until the final whistle. Danbury remains first on the table thanks to the bonus points they got in their matches against New Haven. The Brooklyn Hyenas (0-2) may be winless in D2, but they secured a solid win over Union in their hybrid crossover game, 32-22. Hopefully they can take this confidence into their next games as they host Danbury on the 18th and travel to New Haven on the 25th.

Heading down to our Capital region, we’ve got four teams battling it out in a round robin format. We only had one weekend of matches in September, the competition ramps up in October before its winter hiatus. Last year’s champions were the Severn River Honey Badgers, who defeated James River in the final 19-7. 

This year Severn River (1-0) picked up where they left off with a 29-5 defeat of Norfolk Storm (0-1) on September 13th. Hannah Whiteley dotted down first at five minutes, followed by teammate Kristina Schaefer ten minutes later. Norfolk’s stout defense held strong for the rest of the half, and the Storm scored first in the second half, bringing the gap to a single try. The last 20 minutes was all Severn River, as the Honey Badgers found the try zone three times to bring the final score 29-5, getting the win and the bonus point. 

James River (1-0) also started on a high note as they won their first game on the road against NOVA (0-1). It was a similar pattern to the Severn/Norfolk match, with James River getting an early score and heading into the halftime break 10-0. However James River scored first in the second half and kept NOVA trailing the entire match. NOVA closed the game out with a try through outside center Emily Jeong, but it was too little too late. James River will host Norfolk in early October while NOVA hosts Severn. A highly anticipated rematch of the 2025 Championship will be on October 18th as Severn River hosts the first of two games against James River.

The action has begun for our five Women’s D2 teams in Eastern Pennsylvania, with all teams having two matches under their belt. So far Monmouth (2-0) and Phoenixville White Horse (2-0) are leading the charge to top the league. Phoenixville were the National runners-up last year (and the year before, but who’s counting) and we really believe this could be their year to hoist the National Championship trophy. Of course, they’ve got to get through the EPRU first. Monmouth went 4-4 last year, but have already thrown up some massive numbers against opponents Doylestown (0-2) and Northeast Philadelphia (0-2). Phoenixville, on the other hand, has already defeated Harrisburg (1-1), who finished in second last year. We’ll get to see the top of the table clash on October 18th, but not before seeing Harrisburg take on Northeast Philadelphia in an effort to bounce back towards the top tier of teams. Doylestown, in the meantime, must face Phoenixville and Monmouth back to back at the start of next month, a tall order for any team.

Seven Women’s D2 teams join with the Seattle Orcas D1 to play their season this year. The Portland Pigs will return as defending PNW champions and compete against familiar foes such as the Emerald City Mudhens, the Bend Lady Roughriders, the Tacoma Sirens, and the Steller Sea Lions. Back in the competition are the Eugene Reign and the Chuckanut Bay Mussels, both returning to the NCS-qualifying competition after a brief hiatus. 

The Reign (0-1) took on D1 Seattle for their opening match (talk about a trial by fire), eventually falling 69-3 at the full-time whistle. A tough opening to the season, but hopefully it turns upward from here. A few more matches were postponed, but the action will really kick off in October.

We’ve got the Sacramento Amazons and Berkeley All Blues returning to the D2 scene this year, joined by Life West D1. All three teams play home and away fixtures before advancing to their respective National Championship pathways starting at the Pacific Super Regional. Games won’t start until January, so no rush yet.

Southern California has yet to submit their teams for this upcoming season but they also don’t typically kickoff until January, so we’re not worried yet. As more information comes in, we’ll update this section.

The big news from the Southwest is that Las Vegas is back and ready to defend their National title. Las Vegas had a dream run last year, continuing all the way to the National Championship where they defeated Phoenixville White Horse in a 28-24, down to the wire match. They will be joined by Albuquerque, Phoenix, and the Old Pueblo Lightning. El Paso has since dropped down to D3, and has been replaced by Northern Arizona. Games will kick off in January, and we will cover all the action then.

A few changes in the True South competition this year. The 2023 National Champions, the Knoxville Minx, are back, as well as the Birmingham Steel, the Chattanooga Queens, and the Nashville Stone Lions. The Louisiana Lagniappe and the Memphis Flamingos are both formally out after forfeiting significant parts of their season last year. These matches don’t start until the middle of October, so nothing much to cover until then.

The Texas Women’s Premiership plays a hybrid D1/D2 competition. Four D1 sides join three D2 sides before splitting come post-season. Our three D2 sides are the Little Rock Stormers, who won out and represented at the Gulf Coast Super Regional last year, the San Antonio Riveters, and the Houston sHARCs D2. Games won’t kick off until mid-December, although most teams will be in action beforehand as the Austin Valkyries host their annual Bat City XV tournament at the start of November. 

Over in the Carolinas, there have been a handful of matches, and almost every team has taken the pitch. There’s two geographical subdivisions, Eastern and Western. We are going to start by covering the West. 

Last year the Atlanta 2.0 Selects ran this division, defeating all they encountered in the regular season with the exception of a tie against the Eastern leader, Charlotte. It looked like it would be down to Atlanta and Charlotte in the end, but Charleston took everyone by surprise and pulled out a pair of wins in the semis and finals to advance to the Gulf Coast Super Regional. So far Atlanta (2-0) have collected a pair of wins; one forfeit win over Augusta, and a 99-0 demolition of the Savannah Shamrocks (0-1). The only other score recorded was a forfeit win of the Carolina Villains (1-0) over the Columbia Bombshells (0-1). There’s a lot of games coming in October, hopefully these forfeit issues will sort themselves out by then.

In the Eastern division, the Charlotte Rugby Club finished on top, but it was the Charleston Hurricanes who eventually won out to head to regionals. There’s only been three matches played so far, and they are all blowouts. Charlotte (1-0) made a statement with their 75-0 win over the Fayetteville Valkyries (1-1), who in turn defeated the Charleston Hurricanes (0-1) 40-7. Fear the Maniacs (1-0) also started their season off with a bang, taking down Eno River (0-1) 73-7. Plenty more games to come, but I am probably not alone in hoping that some of these scores get a bit more competitive next month.

Finishing off in the Sunshine State, let’s see how Florida has organized their bracket in the lead up to the 2026 season. Last year Treasure Coast forfeited in the middle of the season, leaving us with four teams. The same four return this year, looking to make their mark and win the State title. Fort Miami and Tampa Krewe battled it out for first last year, and the Krewe made it through to yet another National Championship tournament. Orlando and Jacksonville are also both back to throw their hats in the ring for playoffs this year. Jacksonville played a preseason friendly against Savannah last weekend, taking down the Shamrocks 51-5 and gaining valuable match minutes for veterans and rookies alike. League games won’t start until January, but we’ll keep you in the loop until then.