Today was Central Washington’s coming-out party. Teams within the Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference are well versed in the Wildcats’ attributes, but none of the playoff-bound teams – save Washington State – had actually seen CWU play in person until today. So Central Washington made a statement, posting 101 unanswered points against Chico State.

It took a little time for that runaway performance to unfurl. After the hard-charging Angela Ve’evalu shocked the Chico State defense with a try in the opening minute, Central Washington got into penalty trouble. Diving over and offsides penalties at the breakdown allowed Chico to march down the field into scoring position, and flyhalf Megan Foster had the chance to add three points to the board but missed the off-center kick.

Even though CWU escaped the points-against, the infractions didn’t stop, and referee Paul Bretz had had enough. CWU scrumhalf Rosalind Pena received a yellow card for the team’s repeated offenses.

“We were just shaking all the little goose bumps and butterflies out,” Ve’evalu brushed aside the opening quarter. “But we adjusted well and cleaned it up.”

Ve’evalu and former Sacramento Amazon teammate Suli Tausinga were instrumental in refocusing the team, leaning on their strengths to not only engender positivity but also break Chico's spirits. Both are props, but both were No. 8s for their high school teams. They have size, and they love to run with the ball. Ve’evalu has some momentum behind her and can fend her way out of contact with the best of them. Tausinga has spent more time in the open field and is comfortable inserting into an all-star backline.

“I use my strengths, and one of those is running hard,” Ve’evalu said. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve been able to drop a little weight, and now I’m more flexible on the field. Suli feeds into the backline a lot, and that’s by design.”

Chico started falling off tackles with more regularity, and the PMRC West #4 team slipped into existence mode. All told, 11 Wildcats scored tries: Ve’evalu, Taylor Duncan, Cassidy Meyers and Cam Devereux scored two tries apiece, while Tausinga, Pena, Nate Serevi, Nicole Valli, Fina Toetu’u, Marie Beagle and Katerina Long all dotted down once.

The spotlight also settled on fullback Long, who was amazing from the tee. She converted 13 of 15 shots at goal, from all over the pitch.

There were many impressive aspects of Central Washington’s game, but one score touched on something that makes the Wildcats exciting. Chico State had possession but then the ball hit the deck and the scrambling began. Pena scooped it up and quickly moved the ball away to Meyers, who sent it to Serevi. The outside center was, for some reason, not running at full pace as she approached the defense, and just when the beguilement reached a crescendo, Meyers came screaming back inside to totally catch Chico State off guard. She worked her corner-flagging defense to the try line. And Long converted the try.

It was a round performance not without its challenges. CWU will now face UC Davis, which defeated UC San Diego 45-15, in tomorrow’s semifinal at 1:30 p.m. PT. Stanford plays Washington State in the other semifinal at 3:30 p.m.