While this is the second year that Great Waters has hosted a two-pool, 14-team league, it is the competition’s first season as a hybrid league. Two of the divisions’ best – DII’s UW Stevens Point and NSCRO’s UW Platteville – squared off on Saturday, and UWSP exited with a 38-0 win to secure first in the northern pool. UWSP has not lost a conference game since October 2012 and will return to the Northern Lights championship (Nov. 7) in pursuit of a third-straight title.

“I was very concerned about this match and challenged the team to come up with a ‘shutdown’ defensive effort,” UW Stevens Point coach Gray Zischke informed. “The match was one of the toughest we have had this year, and the final score was not an indication of how close the match was.”

Driven by flanker Hayley VanDuyse-Secor, prop Saraj Jelle, and hooker Sara Polacek, UWSP leaned on the dominance of its forwards and 15/19 scrums and 11/14 lineouts. Platteville looked toward its big, fast, athletic backs, who did break through the line. If it wasn't for the sterling open-field tackling of fullback Danielle Bittner, then Platteville would have scored several tries.

UWSP got on the board with first-quarter tries from No. 8 Hannah Hinnefeld and Jelle, but the 12-0 lead into halftime was anything but a cushion.

Outside center Rachel Mueller scored two minutes in the second half, and about 20 minutes later, wing Micah Hoger capitalized on a penalty to score from 40 meters out. Her conversion (she had four on the day) gave UWSP a 24-0 lead.

“Platteville is a young team, and as the half wore on, they clearly became frustrated by smothering defense and lack of clean possession,” Zischke observed. “They resorted to kick-and-chase at the end, and senior scrumhalf Andrea Sortillon added two tries in the last three minutes off spectacular open-field runs of 50 and 45 meters.”

Platteville may be young, but the team has inherited some quality freshmen in halfback Morgan Pinzer and flanker Kayla Kurszewski. The pair come out of the Wisconsin U19 all-star program, and their influence has helped Platteville be competitive this year. Platteville will now follow the NSCRO championship pathway.

Stevens Point’s roster notes occur in the upperclassmen. Fifth-year senior Sortillon had been a utility player for the previous two years, but returned this fall as a pleasant surprise at scrumhalf.

“She spent all summer working on learning the position and has made it her mission to refuse to let the program drop off from the past two years,” Zischke praised his captain.

Additionally UWSP has picked up two former varsity athletes who have made a big impact: Hinnefeld, a 5’10” outfielder from the softball program; and fifth-year senior Jamie Destache, who finished her basketball eligibility and is now leaning on her experience as a two-year all-state flyhalf with the now-defunct Menominee (Wisc.) high school team.

“And with Hoger and Bittner supplying speed to the deep three, we have been able to add a backline threat sooner than I had expected,” Zischke said.

In the South pool, the top spot will come down to UW Whitewater and University of Illinois Chicago. The pair will play on Oct. 31 in Chicago, and the victor will head to the conference championship on Nov. 7.

Great Waters has been awarded three seeds to the fall DII Round of 32, but placing is crucial. The Great Waters champion will host the Northern Lights runner-up on Nov. 14, while Great Waters #2 team will travel to the Northern Lights’ champion site (typically Winona State) – games that all occur in the Rockies Regional bracket. The third-place team will compete in the Midwest Regional bracket and travel to the Ohio Valley champion’s home site.