Winona was ready to get its post-season underway. The Black Katts went through the Northern Lights conference with little resistance, and used that time to get its younger players lots of playing time. Last Saturday, the Minnesota side saw the return of some key players who had been absent due to injury, and they contributed to a 114-5 win over Univ. Illinois-Chicago (UIC) in the women's DII college fall Round of 32.

Winona is not weighted in its seniors (there are four), which bodes well for the future, but put a little extra stress on the underclassmen. Coach Josh Krzewinski is fortunate to have a solid freshmen group, and those 6-7 players have banked a lot of field time in the four-team conference.

“We see those teams a lot,” Krzewinski said of the pared-down league that includes Duluth, Mankato, and St. Cloud. “We played all three of them at the All-Minnesota tournament, and then had home-and-away games against them during league. It can be cumbersome playing the same teams all the time.”

That sentiment was reflected at the Northern Lights conference championship, when Mankato forfeited its championship berth in what would have been the teams’ fourth meeting this season.

“Mankato has had a down year,” Krzewinski said. “They were stricken by the injury bug early in the season. In the previous couple of years, our games have been a little closer.”

So Winona looks internally for competition, and it’s a process with which they’re familiar.

“Each week, we set the focus goal for practice and then the game, whether it’s how quickly we want the ball out of the ruck, or how many scrums and lineouts we’re going to steal – we focus on ourselves,” Krzewinski said.

“For last Saturday, we didn’t know anything about UIC so we talked about using the game to get back on track,” the coach continued. “We wanted to take care of the ball in contact, clean passes, and not let the ball sit around in the rucks. We did pretty well. We recycled the ball cleanly and were winning rucks with two or three people, spinning it out quickly, and not getting caught in rucks. We had a lot of offload opportunities due to the poor tackling of UIC.”

Eight players scored tries, and flyhalf Katie Dries also kicked 11 conversions. Megan Wolff, who is typically seen at the back of the scrum, moved to inside center to cover for the injured Cassie Schultz. Wolff played her first game after a four-week absence due to a rib injury, and the ferocious ballcarrier scored four tries. Fellow center Lachen Esters and Lindsey Bucki, who has proven herself an excellent flanker in addition to center, scored four tries as well. All American prop Lanoira Duhart (2), No. 8 Bailee Jerger, scrumhalf Nadia Nassif, Dries, and wings Elly Grossen and Melanie Barnes also scored tries.

The entire roster got 25 minutes or more on the pitch, and Krzewinski continued to move players around so should injury strike again, there will be lots of flexibility deep into the playoffs.

The next test lies in Colorado-Mesa University, which received a bye through the Round of 32 last weekend. The pair will contest its Round of 16 match in Colorado Springs this Saturday, and then the winner will play the victor of Mankato State vs. Montana State in the quarterfinals. The last team standing on Sunday will represent the Rocky Mountain Region in the final four (Dec. 5-6, Furman University).

“The goal is getting to the final four for a shot at winning the championship again,” Krzewinski referenced Winona’s 2013 ACRA 15s championship. “It’ll be a tough road. We’re young for the most part. But we have a nice culture built up in that [final four] experience, and I lean on the girls who have experienced it. It’s business as usual, and they take care of themselves. We’re familiar with being on the road.”

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On the other side of the Rocky Mountain Region bracket, Mankato State advanced through the Round of 32 with a 53-19 win over UW Steven's Point. The Mavericks dominated open play and used their size and strength to subdue the Great Waters champion. Flanker Bailey Johnson and flyhalf Kate Campbell were leading performers and try-scorers, and the latter handled the kicking duties as well.

For reference, Mankato lost to Winona 74-5 and 63-0 during regular season.

Mankato State will play Rocky Mountain champion Montana State in the Round of 16. The Bobcats shocked the conference during their first-ever 15s season in the league, and went on to win the title with a 49-12 win over Colorado-Mesa in the final (read more). Both Rocky Mountain conference finalists received byes through the Round of 32, mostly due to logistics.