Atlantic Super Regional 2026 Preview

It’s officially playoff season; the Geographic Unions have wrapped up their league finals and crowned champions who are advancing to the Super Regionals. There are four Super Regional tournaments across the country, representing the four main regions: Northern, Atlantic, Gulf Coast, and Pacific. The Pacific and Gulf Coast tournaments took place last weekend, which means this weekend is all about the Atlantic and Northern competitions. The four regions have slightly different matches; some host Women’s D3 and Men’s D4 (non-National Championship seeking leagues), others have semifinals for Men’s and Women’s D1, while others only have a single championship. Either way, all four are epic tournaments showcasing the best rugby that the USA Club scene has to offer. And I’m going to cover it all.

In this article we’re going to preview the matches taking place at Niagara University, New York. The champions from the Empire, New England, Capital, and Eastern Pennsylvania Geographic Unions are here to battle it out for five spots in the National Final Four (one per league). In addition to that, there will be Men’s D4 and Women’s D3 semis and finals, thriving leagues that will hopefully be on their way to their own National Championship soon. All the semifinals take place on Saturday, with three fields booked morning to night to host the Men’s D2, D3, D4, and Women’s D1, D2, and D3. The Men’s D1 has a standalone final on Saturday, with the winner directly advancing to the National Championship tournament. Let’s get started!

Kicking off our day will be the Men’s D3 semifinals, with the Capital champion, Severn River, taking on the Eastern Pennsylvania champion, the Jersey Shore Sharks. 

Severn River claimed the Capital title with a 30-24 win over Virginia on April 18th. Addressing the elephant in the room – I understand there was a fair amount of drama surrounding this match and various eligibility aspects. I am not getting involved in that, I am just covering the rugby that was played. If you hate me for that, you can stop reading, that’s okay. For everyone else, let’s get back to the rugby. Severn hadn’t escaped the regular season unscathed, they lost one match back in September against Loudoun, final score 26-12, but have been on the up and up since then. In the Capital D3 Central Championship match back on March 28th, Severn River defeated the Washington Renegades 22-20 in order to progress to the Capital Championship. Their semifinal against the Potomac Exiles on April 11th was a shootout, with Eric Dronberger scoring 12 of Severn’s 22 points in the 22-19 win. Dronberger was essential in the Conference Championship the following weekend as well, going 100% on conversions and slotting three penalty goals in the 30-24 defeat of Virginia. Severn are following in the footsteps of Rocky Gorge D3, who won the Atlantic Super Regional last year as the Capital Champions. This gives Severn the top seed entering the playoff weekend, though there’s no such thing as an easy match when it comes to the Super Regionals. 

Taking on Severn River are the Eastern Pennsylvania Champions, Jersey Shore. Jersey Shore fell off in the EPRU semifinals the past two years, both times losing to Wilkes-Barre. This year, they faced Northeast Philadelphia in the semis and Lehigh Valley in the final, putting in a pair of dominant performances to secure their spot at the Super Regionals. The last time an EPRU Men’s D3 team made it to a National Championship match was back in 2012, when Philadelphia Whitemarsh played New Orleans for the title, falling 36-20. This Sharks team is tough, quick, and ruthless; and if anyone’s got what it takes to bring a D3 National Title home to Eastern Pennsylvania, it’s the Sharks. The Sharks have won their last 12 league matches in a row, creating impressive momentum heading into this playoff tournament. Jersey Shore may have inherited the lowest seed from last year’s Super Regional finishes, but expect them to play like the tournament favorite. The Sharks are on the hunt.

In the other Men’s D3 semifinal we have the New England champions, Providence, taking on the Empire champions, Syracuse. 

Providence won the New England Men’s D3 Championship all the way back in November, defeating Burlington in the final 43-12, payback for Providence’s regular season loss to the Vermont side. Now, I haven’t seen much action for Providence in the spring; they were slated to play Worcester on March 28th, but neither team posted much in regards to scores. Providence’s last trip to the Super Regionals was back in 2023, when they lost 64-17 to North Bay in the semifinal before winning their consolation match on Day 2, 24-5 over Lehigh Valley. They have a massive challenge in front of them, as Syracuse are one of the top D3 teams in the country. But then again, if Providence are here, that also means they are one of the top D3 teams in the country; certainly the best in New England (I mean… look at the scoreboard). 

Taking on Providence are the Syracuse Chargers, back for more playoff rugby action. Syracuse successfully defended their Empire title this past month, going undefeated for the entire season. It started in the Empire D3 Upstate league, where Syracuse went 8-0 with a total PD of +325. From there, Syracuse took on the Morris Lions in the quarterfinals, who finished second in the New Jersey league. This ended up being Syracuse’s closest playoff match, with a final score of 44-12. Now, that should tell you something about how good this Syracuse side is. From there it was onto the semis, where the Chargers smashed Long Island with a final score of 85-0. Nine different players scored for Syracuse, including Zach Dahar, who racked up three tries on the day. The momentum kept rolling as Syracuse hosted the Fairfield Yankees in the Empire final on April 18th. This time Dahar only scored twice, with Benjamin Mousseau getting the hattrick glory. Kevin Morgan and Nikolas Merluzzi also scored doubles on the day, adding to the 65 point total for the Chargers. The Yankees on the other hand, only put up 15. It was confirmed, Syracuse would make the (short) trip back to the Super Regionals, this time looking for more than a third-place finish. The last time a Men’s D3 Empire team made it to the National Championships was in 2022 when the Union County Mudturtles faced the Palm Beach Panthers in the final. Syracuse themselves made the trip back in 2011, falling to Metropolis Rugby in the final. Perhaps this is the year Syracuse takes it one step further and claims the National Title for their own. 

Heading over to the Women’s Division 2 semifinals, we’ve got the New England Champions, Providence, taking on the Empire Champions, New Haven. Both teams earned their spot in the Super Regionals last year in their respective conference championships, and it’s neither team’s first time in the playoffs. 

Providence finished 4-1 in the regular season, with a 25-24 loss to Hartford marring their otherwise perfect record. They still took the top seed in the playoffs, defeating the Albany Knickerbockers in the semis before facing the Worcester Shamrocks in the final. It was a thrilling match, coming down to the wire, but come the final whistle, it was Providence who proved victorious, final score 31-29. The last time Providence advanced to the Super Regionals was back in 2023 when they participated in the Women’s D1 postseason pathway. They faced NOVA on Day 1 and Boston on Day 2, ultimately losing both matches. This time Providence are back and chasing a different National Title. Their preseason included matches against their strongest foes, playing Worcester on March 28th and Hartford on April 11th. No scores were reported from either match, but it’s good to know that Providence have their boots on the ground and are gearing up for a tough semifinal.

Providence’s opponent on Day 1 will be the returning Empire Champs, New Haven Old Black. New Haven claimed their fifth Empire title back in November with a 23-16 win over Danbury in November. They return to the Super Regionals in order to raise the stakes from last year. In 2025, New Haven narrowly defeated Severn River 17-15 in the semifinals before facing Phoenixville White Horse in the Super Regional final. It was a dominant showing from White Horse, who have been top of their game for a few years now, yet still promising for New Haven, who are limited by their small three-team conference. Last year New Haven were required to play a spring qualifying match against Providence in order to make their way to the Super Regionals; this they won 31-14, proving that a small conference doesn’t mean a small team. New Haven put out a packed spring schedule, plenty of good preparation for the playoffs. They traveled around the region, taking on D1 teams like Philadelphia and New York as well as D2 Hartford and Worcester from Providence’s part of the country. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see a little preview of Providence vs New Haven, but I guess they’re saving the best for Saturday, in the semifinal.

Our second Women’s D2 semifinal is a true clash of giants. Capital Champions Severn River takes on the EPRU Champions, Phoenixville White Horse, in what promises to be one of the best matches of the weekend, and the third time these two have gone head to head in a Super Regional tournament. 

Severn River defeated James River 34-7 in the Capital Conference Championship on April 18th in order to defend their title and book another ticket to the Super Regionals. Severn have been at every Super Regional since 2023, making it to the final in ‘23 and ‘24, and narrowly missing out last year after a two-point loss in the semis. Back in 2024, Severn topped New Haven 43-8 in the Super Regional semis to advance to the final against Phoenixville. There they played a gritty, low-scoring battle, with defense the name of the game. The score was always within a try, giving both teams the opportunity to take the win, but in the end Phoenixville finished on top 12-8. The year before, Severn proved too good to stop as they again beat New Haven in the semis and faced White Horse in the final. That one was a 36-31 victory for the Honey Badgers, who went onto the Final Four and eventually the National Championship match, where they fell 33-22 against the Knoxville Minx. It’s clear that Severn River are still at the top of their game, and we are in store for another great meeting between these two sides.

Phoenixville White Horse repeated as the EPRU Champions with a commanding 74-5 win over Monmouth in the final. They finished the regular season with a 8-0 record and a total PD of +517, a whopping average of 65 points per match. In fact, their closest match all season was back on opening weekend when they defeated Northeast Philadelphia 32-20. As mentioned above, Phoenixville have gone head to head with Severn the past few Super Regionals, except last year when White Horse faced New Haven in the final on Sunday. That one Phoenixville won 30-14, heading back to the National Championships for the second year in a row. Speaking of National Championships, Phoenixville White Horse have finished second in the nation for the past two years, and you can bet they are shooting for the title this year. In 2024 Tampa Krewe defeated White Horse soundly, 59-14, but last year White Horse came incredibly close to the win, falling 31-24 after a game-ending penalty from the Las Vegas Irish. Over in the Gulf Coast Tampa Krewe have confirmed their spot, but Las Vegas have been knocked out, giving White Horse the opening they need to claim the title for their own. But, no use getting ahead of ourselves, White Horse have to deal with the matter at hand first, Severn River, and they’re not going down without a fight.

Over in the Men’s D2 competition, our first semifinal has the Empire Champions, Buffalo, taking on the EPRU Champions, North Bay.

Buffalo finished top of the table in the Empire Men’s D2 conference with a 7-1 record and a win streak that goes back to September 2025. Empire secured their place in the standings with a 44-19 win over NYAC the final weekend of April, while NYRC, the only team to defeat Buffalo this season, lost their final match against Old Blue 33-31. In April, the defending champions hosted Old Blue in the lone semifinal, losing 47-17 and sacrificing their spot in the Empire final to their cross-town rivals. Buffalo hosted Old Blue on April 18th, determined to finish their season undefeated and make their first trip back to Super Regionals since 2023. Simon Honig got the home team on the scoreboard first thanks to a penalty goal, but Old Blue scored the first try moments later. Buffalo took back the league ten minutes later through Joshua Smith, and the home team led at halftime, 13-10. The second half was all Buffalo as they scored two unanswered tries, including one in the final minutes from replacement Joey Brooks in order to clinch the Empire title and the bid to Super Regionals. This will be a massive tournament for Buffalo, who are hosting at Niagara University in Niagara University, New York. Expect the home crowd to be there en masse to support the hometown side as they make another push for that spot in the Final Four.

Heading back to the Super Regional for the second year in a row are North Bay, defending their EPRU title back on March 28th with a 65-18 win over Philadelphia Whitemarsh. North Bay are another one of those teams who have seemingly steamrolled through the regular season, racking up a total PD of +376 over eight matches. They did have one close call in October, pulling out a 40-33 win over South Jersey on the road, but since then it’s been smooth sailing for North Bay. In last year’s Super Regionals, North Bay lost a heartbreaker to the Boston Irish Wolfhounds in the semifinal, after a game-ending try from Wolfhounds’ Andrew Marshall. They went on to win the consolation match over the Riverlands Golden Boars by an impressive 55-19, but there was no advancing further. This time, North Bay is aiming for a spot in the Final Four. Powered by inside center Mitch Vannoy and lethal back three combo of Soriano, Western, and Rodriguez; North Bay has firepower for days. The match against Buffalo won’t be an easy one, but North Bay are going to come out guns blazing, with their eyes on the prize.

Our second Men’s D2 semifinal reaches to opposite ends of the Atlantic to pull together New England Champions, Portland, and the Capital Champions, the Raleigh Vipers in this match-up. 

Portland won the NERFU Final back in November in an instant classic against the Boston Irish Wolfhounds. Portland finished 2-4 in the regular season, entering as the fifth seed overall into the playoffs. Yeah, you read that right. Portland traveled for quarters, semis, and the final, and took down every opponent in their way. First up was fourth-place Worcester, who Portland defeated 34-23; that gave Portland the berth in the semifinals against top of the table Mystic River. This one they won 43-38, a final try from Ross Maiden sealing the deal for Portland. Finally they had to take on the defending champions, the Boston Irish Wolfhounds. We already know how that one finished, with Portland pulling off the ultimate Cinderella story to rise from 5th to 1st, and punch their ticket to Super Regionals. It’s relatively new territory for Portland, who also qualified their Women’s D3 side to the playoffs; but nothing a dream team like this can’t handle. They will definitely be tested in this first match, but Portland keeps climbing; they are intent on bringing the hardware home to Maine. 

Heading far down south we have our Men’s D2 Capital Champions, the Raleigh Vipers. Raleigh won the Men’s D2 National Championship all the way back in 2007, defeating the Red Mountain Warthogs 29-27 to claim the crown. Raleigh started their season 2-2, but started ramping up as the end of the season got closer and closer. They split their results with the Riverlands Golden Boars, and finished with the same record and table points, so it came down to head to head PD to determine who would top the table and who would take second. Raleigh won that one by a tiny margin, the cumulative point spread 70-65. This meant that the Vipers would host James River in the semi while the Riverlands hosted the Norfolk Blues on April 11th. Both were high-scoring matches, with Raleigh taking the win over James River 49-41 and Norfolk upsetting the Riverlands 55-32. This set up a rematch between Raleigh and Norfolk for the title. The Vipers won this one confidently, with three tries from Alexander Freeman adding to the 57-15 final score. Now Raleigh must make the trek to upstate New York to face Portland in the Super Regional semifinal. The last time Raleigh won the Capital D2 Championship and advanced to the postseason was in 2019, where they finished 2nd in the Mid-Atlantic. Things have changed since then, and Raleigh too have changed, for the better. Watch out for Raleigh, the Vipers have a bit of a bite to them. 

Moving into the semifinals of the Women’s Division 1 competition. These playoffs are always interesting, because the teams that qualify for playoffs all come from the same regular season competition. The Atlantic Women’s D1 spans from Boston down to Atlanta, and includes teams from all four GUs. They play each other during the year all for spots in the top four, and to determine seeding for the Super Regionals. You could lose to a team in the regular season, but this weekend is when it counts. Win both games here, and you’ve got a golden ticket to the National Championships. 

The first of these matches has the top seed, Philadelphia, taking on the fourth place team, the DC Furies. Philadelphia capped off their perfect season with a whopping 94-3 win over the Raleigh Venom on April 11th. It’s been a stunning season for Philadelphia, whose win over NOVA on March 28th more or less locked up the top spot entering the playoffs. Their last match against DC was back on November 1st, a 54-0 win for Philadelphia. Their only big loss of the season was a friendly played against Life U, who won the Gulf Coast this past weekend. We’re not sure what that roster looked like from either side, so we have to take the result with a grain of salt. Either way, in order to set up a rematch against Life, Philly have to win both matches this weekend.

The DC Furies were in the best spot to secure the final playoff slot entering April, but it wasn’t guaranteed. Their 22-19 win over Boston on April 11th sealed the deal, with Celeste Good scoring in the 68th minute to secure the win for DC. The Furies definitely have an uphill battle in this one, they finished the season 3-3, but with a total PD of -56, they suffered some heavy losses against those top teams. However, on the other hand, if anyone can do it, why not the Furies? DC is one of the oldest women’s rugby clubs in the nation, having been around almost 50 years. They’ve faced their share of uphill battles and come out the other side. If Philadelphia aren’t careful, this Cinderella story could just be starting.

The second Women’s D1 semifinal pits second-place NOVA against third-place New York. NOVA finished 5-1 in the regular season, with a lone loss to Philadelphia in March. They still finished with a total PD of +264, and their historic performance at the National Championship tournament speaks for itself. They’ve won three of the last five National Titles, and the two they didn’t win, they still came in second-place. The last time a different team qualified from the Atlantic region was back in 2017 and 2018, when Raleigh Venom finished as back to back National runners-up. In order to defend their Atlantic title, NOVA will have to first defeat New York, a feat they accomplished back in September, by a score of 31-7. 

Finishing third in the Atlantic with a final record of 4-2 are New York. New York have made it to their first Atlantic Super Regional since prior to 2023 (and the extent of RX’s history) after a solid performance in the Atlantic Women’s D1. They played all but one of their matches in the fall, meaning they just had to sit tight and wait to see how the rest of the conference played out. Their final match on April 11th was a 45-26 win over the Atlanta Harlequins. Shamira Robles scored three tries in that one, a player who has been with New York since their WPL glory days. New York have made it to the National D1 Championship match before, way back in 2008 when they finished second to Berkeley. Between then and now, they won three WPL titles, in 2009, 2010, and 2018, and have remained a household name when it comes to elite women’s rugby in the US. New York also has the shortest travel to get to the Super Regionals, as it’s held in upstate New York. I mean, it’s six and half hours, but somehow still the shortest.

Our final match of the day is the standalone Men’s D1 Final between the Empire/New England champion and the Mid-Atlantic Champion. The Atlantic Men’s D1 Champion has featured in nine of the last ten Men’s D1 Finals, bringing home four of those titles to the East Coast. Their last title was in 2019, which went to the Life Running Eagles (back when ARP was the qualifier for Nationals), and before that in 2018, Mystic River lifted the trophy over Belmont Shore. 

Winning out the Empire/New England competition this past spring was Old Blue, who will be making the return trip to the National Championships after finishing second overall, losing to Belmont Shore 27-12 in the final. Old Blue went 5-0 this spring, earning all possible bonus points in order to clinch the spot in the Super Regionals. Their closest match was back in March, with a 41-33 victory over White Plains. Old Blue also played in the fall ARP season, finishing with a surprising 1-4 record. Those matches must’ve built the foundation that we see Old Blue playing on now, so we know they are entering this match with strong depth and their eyes on the prize. 

Taking on Old Blue will be the back to back MAC Champions, Schuylkill River. Schuylkill River finished second in the MAC, tied on table point with the first and third place teams, Rocky Gorge and NOVA. In the semifinal, Schuylkill River took on NOVA in a rematch of the 2024 MAC final. In that one, NOVA upset the higher seed, running away with a 43-24 win. This time, Schuylkill River flipped the tables with a similar scoreline, defeating the reigning 7s National Champions 42-28. With Rocky Gorge defeating the Potomac Exiles in the other semi, it set up Rocky Gorge and Schuylkill for the second time this season. Schuylkill defeated Rocky Gorge in the regular season, 44-34, but this time Rocky Gorge had the home field advantage. It was a thrilling contest, with back and forth action, though both teams had to fight for each try scored. After two tries late in the first half, Cesar Da Fonseca scored the match winner with ten minutes to go for Schuylkill with Danny Giannascoli converting. Rocky Gorge pulled out all the stops, but Schuylkill River successfully defended their title and booked a return ticket to the Super Regionals. 

The last time these two went head to head was in last year’s Super Regional playoff, where Old Blue hammered Schuylkill 69-8 in order to advance. It’s worth noting that Old Blue scored eight of their eleven tries in the second half, indicating that Schuylkill has to be ready to put in a full 80 against this New York side in order to make it back to the Final Four.