Women’s Division 1 – November 2025 Recap

With November coming to a close, we have a few different things happening across the USA Club Rugby landscape. Regions are either powering down for the winter, entering hibernation mode before reactivating when the snow goes away; starting their preseasons to celebrate the end of the 10-month summer (looking at you Texas); or most excitedly – crowning champions. The bulk of this recap will go to the latter, as playoff rugby is always page scrolling stuff. However, we will of course cover every region and division seeking USAR Club Nationals qualification in the spring.

All of the information and stats reported below are gathered from team-entered data on Rugby Xplorer. If something doesn’t seem right, please first check with Rugby Xplorer or your local GU before sounding the alarm and flooding my inbox. If it’s right in the system and wrong here, it could just be me. Unfortunately I too make mistakes. All other commentary is just for fun from someone who has no stake in the outcomes of these matches.

With that out of the way, let’s cover everything that happened in November in the Women’s Division 1 competition!

November saw through the playoffs of the Midwest Women’s D1 competition; semifinals and finals. Four teams made it through to the knockout rounds: the Pittsburgh Forge (7-1) and the Columbus Squirrels (6-2) from the Eastern Division and Chicago North Shore (5-1) and the Metropolis Valkyries (5-1) from the Western Division. 

First up, Pittsburgh hosted the Valkyries. Last year, Metropolis smashed the Forge 50-5 in the semifinals before eventually finishing on top of the conference and advancing to the National Championship tournament. However this year was a different story. Pittsburgh had been excellent all season, their only loss back in September against the Columbus Squirrels. However, they turned the tables two weeks later when they hosted the Squirrels at home, defeating them 29-26 to stay on top of the conference. Last year Metropolis went virtually untouched all season, but this year, they had a few challengers lined up to face them. It was only the last weekend of the regular season when the Valkyries finally met their match, losing 38-14 at the hands of Chicago North Shore. The Midwest had to go through a number of tiebreakers to establish who would top the Western Conference, but in the end it was Chicago, forcing the Valkyries to make the trip to Pittsburgh for the semi. It was a close game, and came all the way down to the end. The Forge managed to eke out a win 22-20, taking down the former Midwest Champs and booking their ticket in the D1 final. 

Meanwhile Chicago North Shore were hosting the Columbus Squirrels in the other semifinal. Columbus defeated the Chicago Lions last year to qualify for their place in the final, but they were in unfamiliar territory taking on North Shore. North Shore didn’t feature in last year’s D1 competition due to their Women’s Premier League [WPL] status. However with the formation of Women’s Elite Rugby [WER], North Shore are back in the fold! They returned to the D1 scene with a vengeance, going 5-1, their only defeat being a 24-point loss to the Metropolis Valkyries back in September. The Squirrels also had a stunner season, they led the eastern league both in bonus points gained and overall point differential. They lost big in the final last year to Metropolis, but hey, who didn’t? Home field advantage paid off for North Shore in this one, as they delivered a defensive masterclass over the Squirrels in the semifinal. Barb Ribeiro scored first for North Shore around 13 minutes, converting her own try. Annie Feldkamp added a second for Chicago shortly later, but that was it for the first half – North Shore taking the lead into the break 12-0. The second half was where North Shore hit the gas; four tries in about 20 minutes spread the gap too far for Columbus to catch up, and North Shore clinched the win at full-time. Impressively, North Shore were able to keep Columbus out of the try zone the entire match, final score 39-0. 

Pittsburgh and North Shore met the next weekend in Chicago, at the Midwest Championships. With both the Valkyries and the Squirrels out of the picture, it was guaranteed that a new champion would claim the title. The match was a dog fight, both teams desperate for the win. In the end it would be decided by a single converted try, Chicago North Shore over Pittsburgh 29-22. A monumental effort by both teams, but it would be the league “newbies” to lift the cup. North Shore will advance directly to the National Championship Final Four where they will take on the Gulf Coast, Atlantic, and Pacific D1 Champions. But first? A deserved winter break.

There were only two matches in November to finish out the Fall 2025 season. All seven teams will resume play next spring before regional playoffs.

The DC Furies (2-2) split their results from November, losing to Philadelphia (4-0), but banking a win over the Atlanta Harlequins (0-3). Philadelphia are one of two undefeated teams left in the conference, the other being NOVA (4-0). Those two will finally meet on March 28th at Philadelphia. Having home field advantage will be massive for Philly, who lost 48-33 to NOVA in the Atlantic Super Regional semifinal last year. Sure it’ll all come down to playoffs in the end, but a regular season win over the three-time National Champions would be a powerful statement. Philadelphia won confidently over DC on November 1st, sending seven different players into the try zone as they racked up 54 total points while not allowing a single one from DC.

The Furies went back to the drawing board and came out firing two weeks later when they hosted the Atlanta Harlequins for the final game of the fall season. Elizabeth Bahret scored four tries on the day and Lauren Eckenrode was perfect off the tee, slotting not only seven conversions, but also three penalty goals in the 58-15 win. For Atlanta, every little bit counts, this was the first league points they had scored all season; a pair of tries from Ashley Prusak and Corinne Heavner. The Harlequins will have four months from now until March when they head back onto the pitch to face the Raleigh Venom (0-3). Barring a tie, one of those two teams will get their first win of the season that weekend. 

New York Rugby Club (3-2) only have one match left to play, in April against the Harlequins. As the only team having played five of six games, their place on the table could shift dramatically before the end of the season. If any of the bottom teams – Atlanta, Raleigh, or Boston – go on three-game win streaks, they could hop over NYRC before the season is out. 

This league will go dormant from now until the end of March. We’ll keep you updated with possibilities of what could happen at the end of the season, but for now it’s time to hunker down for the winter. 

The Seattle Orcas made a massive statement win over BC Premier team Abbotsford in November, clinching the win 34-27. It was a welcome return to the Canadian league after their heartbreaking 19-15 loss to UBC back in October. The Orcas are the lone D1 side in the Pacific Northwest, playing both a hybrid D1/D2 competition within the US and as part of the BC Premiership. This November win bodes well for the Orcas’ postseason dreams; they lost the Pacific Super Regional final last year to eventual National Champions, the Utah Vipers, 33-26.

We had one final match in November for the fall season before teams break for the winter and it was a close one. Denver Black Ice (2-2) hosted the Colorado Grey Wolves (0-3) in an epic rendition of our favorite Colorado rivalry. Their first faceoff of the season was back at the start of October, Black Ice taking the spoils 41-24. This game was much tighter of a battle, with both sides scoring an equal number of tries. However Black Ice managed to make one more conversion kick, giving them the two point differential in the end; final score 31-29. This win gives Black Ice an even record, 2-2, while the Colorado Grey Wolves are still hunting that elusive first win of the season. They have one chance left when they play the Utah Vipers (3-0) in the spring, but that is certainly going to be a challenge.

The Vipers are nigh unstoppable right now; coming off a National Championship win is never an easy feat, it seems like there’s no way to top winning a National Championship unless you’re promoted to the next higher division. Utah doesn’t seem to be affected by this phenomenon. They have absolutely roared onto the scene, demolishing both the Grey Wolves and Black Ice this season. They will have to make sure they don’t lose too much momentum when they head into the winter break; the Grey Wolves can be unpredictable, and you don’t want to underestimate them. That final match is currently scheduled for the end of the March. 

Rugby finally kicked off in Northern California with the Sacramento Amazons (0-1) hosting the Berkeley All Blues (1-0). It was a bumper day for Berkeley who scored an astounding 15 tries against the Amazons. Falalauola Amanoni led the charge with five tries for Berkeley, followed by Bernice Thambiraja and Lauren Racioppi with two apiece. Tachae Hankerson scored the lone try for Sacramento on the day, around 60 minutes in. The All Blues can be proud of that start to their season, especially after a heartbreak loss in the Austin Valkyries Bat City final a few weeks before. However, for a side who traveled halfway across the country and played a home All-Star side just to lose by two points; I’d definitely keep my eye on Berkeley. Our third big player in NorCal, Life West, will kick off their season in December when they host the Amazons on the 11th. That will give us a good idea of how Life West stands in relation to the All Blues, as it will likely come down to those two in the end. 

Southern California is our last competition to start up, kicking off in January. We still haven’t gotten a full schedule release on Rugby Xplorer, but hope to see it next month in order to prepare ourselves for some top tier competition.

The Texas Women’s Premiership kicks off next month with the Austin Valkyries hosting HARC and the Dallas Harlequins hosting Life U. The Valkyries hosted the Dallas Reds [D3] in a preseason match on November 22nd, eventually taking the win 24-0 after a scoreless first half. It was a good chance for Austin to test a few combinations heading into the new season, and for Dallas who are likely to make the move back to D2 in the coming years.

Also in November was the Austin Valkyries’ Bat City XV tournament. The Texas Toast [All-Stars] took the title over the Berkeley All Blues, but the Austin Valkyries, HARC, and Dallas Harlequins were all in attendance as well. As many players suited up for both the Toast and their home clubs, it was a valuable day of rugby for all involved.