A nice race has developed in the Pacific Mountain Conference’s North division. Central Washington has established itself as the title favorite, but Washington State and Oregon are now embattled in a neck-and-neck for second. And there’s plenty at stake. The North will send two representatives to the conference playoffs in late April, and join all four of the West’s teams and another two from the PMC South.

Saturday marked Washington State and Oregon’s second meeting of the regular season. In their November match, the Cougars celebrated a 24-14 win.

“They made fewer mistakes; we had too many knock-ons,” Oregon coach Greg Farrell summarized the first game. “Every time we play, it’s a knock-down, drag-out physical match.”

Since then, Farrell has focused on defense. He knew that was going to be the deciding factor against a team that likes to swing the ball and spread its opponents thin. The drilling paid off on Saturday, as Oregon was able to repel an intense goal-line attack in the first half, one that “was enough to give me a heart attack,” Farrell joked.

The Ducks were equally unsuccessful in the try zone during the first 40, but did salvage points. Eighteen minutes in, rookie freshman flyhalf Emma Richie slotted a penalty for a 3-0 lead that held until halftime.

“This game can go either way,” Farrell recalled his halftime chat with the team. And when Washington State turned another red zone attack into a converted try (7-3), Farrell's insight was proven correct.

“There was no panic,” he said of his players’ response. “They knew they’d be in it if they kept playing their game.

“We’ve always been a second-half team,” the coach added. “We pride ourselves on our conditioning. It's usually better than the other team's, and that’s when we score more points.”

Oregon regained the lead when lock Jessie Salud dove into the corner, 8-7. The teams continued to pummel each other, and the Oregon forwards absorbed a lot of that punishment. By the end of the match, only two players from the starting pack remained. Sierra Cutler became the epitome of a team player, as she moved from prop to hooker to No. 8 to accommodate the accruing injuries. The backs endured their share of lumps, and fullback Erika Farias was solid when Washington State broke the line. Her tackling kept Oregon in the game.

The Cougars were working hard, too, but discipline became a concern. Oregon was attacking in Washington State's half, and penalties enabled a long campaign inside the 22 meter. To exacerbate matters, WSU couldn’t realign quickly enough to Oregon’s quick taps, and that meant a lot of illegal contact. The referee instructed the Cougars on several occasions to retreat 10 meters off the penalty, but he lost his patience when a not-10 penalty paired with diving-over and hands in the breakdown. The result was a penalty try that Richie easily, 15-7.

“Their coach came over after the game and said, ‘I really don’t like losing but that was a heck of a match,’” said Farrell, whose team hadn’t beaten Washington State since the Cougars joined DI two years ago. “We’ve been a young team but now we’re coming of age.”

And that’s something that the conference playoffs don’t take into consideration. The seeds for the Pacific Mountain Conference championship were determined in the fall and are based off of last year's results: two seeds apiece for the PMC North and South, and four for the West. But some pre-season and tournament play has suggested that those automatic bids might not send the top eight teams to playoffs (Oregon, e.g., beat Chico State 23-5 at the Stanford Invitational). Perhaps the aforementioned set-up could be forgiven if there was a play-in seed, which accounts for the sometimes inconsistent success of college programs, but that format has been abandoned.

What that means is that either Washington State or Oregon will be eliminated from playoffs, while the PMC West (admittedly, the strongest division traditionally) sends all of its members to post-season without contest.

Presently, WSU is in line for the division’s second berth, as the Cougars have a 55-point lead in points differential. There’s still plenty of rugby left, however, and a close eye will remain on the standings.