Much like DI fall champion UCONN (read more), Davenport is starting to realize that the toughest times are ahead. The Panthers won the DII fall championship after two thrilling games against Bloomsburg (43-26) and Winona (29-22) last weekend, and have secured their spot in the May national championship.

“It’s an overwhelming feeling,” Davenport coach Greg Teliczan said. “It’s everything we have been working for and building toward.”

That path began more than a year ago. During the 2014 fall playoffs, Davenport played now-DI varsity Notre Dame College in the Round of 16, and gave the Falcons the best game of their title-winning season in the loss.

“That was a heck of a game, and we were disappointed to not see them later in the tournament,” Teliczan remembered. “That night we had a team dinner, and I told the players, ‘Starting today, our focus is next year. We’ll be back and we’re coming for the national championship.’ Everyone was on board, even through spring 7s, working hard, hitting the weight room, getting us to where we are.

“That was our national championship,” the coach said of last weekend. “Our athletic director, he corrects me, ‘No, that was a regional championship,’ but this was our goal and we accomplished it.”

Teliczan’s latter comment reflects the concern that he – and UCONN coach Mark Jordan – is harboring regarding the spring national championship. Davenport University is in Grand Rapids, Mich., and the spring is spent training indoors through March.

“As the euphoria wears off, I’m asking myself, ‘Why are we [competing] in the spring,” Teliczan said. “It seems ridiculous. We are a fall team. We’re lucky if we play outside by mid-April. The last couple of days, I’ve been meeting with the athletic department to plan for the spring, and it’s nuts. How are we going to do this?”

Getting earlier games means traveling out of the Midwest, which will be a tough ask since the Panthers will be heading to Moraga, Calif., for the DII final. Additionally, Teliczan wants to compete in the ACRA 7s Championship in the spring. Davenport is the defending DII champ, and the 7s game is especially important to Teliczan, a capped 7s Eagle.

Fortunately, the players aren’t concerned with the barriers. They’re heading to the national championship, and that’s that.

“They don’t care, and it’s not for them to think about,” Teliczan said of whether the players understand the circumstances. “They’re playing rugby and loving it. And they’re successful. When they were told they were heading to California, it was like the greatest thing they’d ever heard.”

And even though there are five months before the national final, Davenport has some weaknesses to address. During the fall final four, Bloomsburg took a 26-5 halftime lead during the semifinals, and Winona prevented the Panthers from establishing any continuity.

“I’m very proud how resilient we were, but I was also disappointed,” the coach said. “We knew Bloomsburg was going to be strong, physical, and come right at you. And we went over it and over it, and the girls just let it happen. A couple of tries were fantastic runs from their best player [Nikki Snyder], but we should have been able to shut the door on that. We came back in the second half, though, and took care of business.”

The stress of that comeback was incentive to come out strong in the first half of the final, but Davenport still didn’t capitalize on the intel gathered on the Black Katts.

“Against Winona, we knew exactly what they were going to do,” the coach said of the final preparation. “We watched and filmed their semifinal, and we reviewed it with the players. Winona did a great job of disrupting our rucks, coming in low and hard, and they never let us get any ball. The centers came up hard on us and shut us down there. We never once got into our full game; they did a fantastic job.

Teliczan was pleased that the team still found ways to score even though it struggled to turn knowledge of the opposition into an advantage. The coach credits that shortcoming to inexperience, as the 22-player roster includes 6-7 freshmen with no incoming rugby experience.

“They do exactly what you tell them, which can be a blessing and a curse,” said Teliczan, who coached men’s teams for years. “They listen: This is how you ruck, get into the scrum, how you tackle, how we want our lineouts to be. But if there’s a little change, sometimes they don’t adapt as quickly as you want. But they’re learning very quickly, and I’m very proud of that. And they’ll get more experience in the spring.”

Fortunately, Davenport has excellent leadership escorting the youth during high-pressure times. Danielle Ordway is the big name, and Teliczan confirmed that she deserves the recognition.

“She’s the real deal,” the coach said. “She’s one of those great athletes who just needs to keep playing. We had her at fullback, moved her up to outside center, and need to put her in a position where she can fine-tune her ball skills – maybe flyhalf, where she has to make decisions sooner, and use her hands, kicking, and running abilities at the same time. That will help her a lot.”

Lock Brenna Donahue is an oft-overlooked player, whom Teliczan has recommended to age-grade scouts. Back row Mikala Ferguson is a well known entity throughout the Midwest and has started to draw inquiry from higher-level selectors. The trio will be instrumental in setting the standard during spring 7s pre-season - which is mandatory for all players - while the team enhances ball skills and fitness. Davenport will then look to win its first-ever DII national championship against the spring victor, in May, in California.

For photos from the DII fall final four weekend, click here.