Central Washington has built a diverse schedule this fall. The DI program has booked some East Coast and top-tier women’s club matches while also playing a full Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference (PMRC) lineup. That’s 11 games over seven weekends for the national 7s and 15s runner-up.

The Wildcats don’t waste any time and start their 2015-16 campaign with a friendly against Women’s Premier League’s ORSU. The match occurs on Sept. 26 – a bye week for the WPL – so CWU could face a mix of A and B side players. Same goes for the team’s Oct. 10 match against DI Club National Champion Seattle. The Saracens will be three games into the BC’s Mainland Elite regular season.

Central Washington plays its first PMRC game against Washington State on Oct. 3. The Cougars were second-best in the North last season; however, WSU has lost its head coach as well as important players like Eagle Anne Peterson to graduation and Emma Knapp to Lindenwood. The regular lineup of Washington, Oregon, and Oregon State are peppered throughout the fall, and two of those weekends are double-booked with friendlies against DII teams Western Washington and Western Oregon (presumably for the second side).

But the most exciting games occur on back-to-back weekends in October. Central Washington travels to the East Coast to play varsity teams Norwich University on Oct. 17 and Quinnipiac University on Oct. 18. The Wildcats played the Bobcats last fall in Ellensburg, Wash., and trailed until the waning moments, when Ashley Rolsma scored for the 22-17 win. That was the game that put in motion Central Washington's march up the rankings.

Central Washington and Norwich have not played each other before, but it will be a game of runners-up; both teams lost to Penn State in the fall and national championships, respectively.

On the following weekend, BYU travels to Central Washington for a highly anticipated rematch. The pair met during the 2015 DI spring championship, and the Wildcats had to battle back from a 15-point deficit before winning the title 29-15.

Fortunately for CWU, there were only two seniors on last year’s densely talented squad. Highlighting summer action were Jenny Johnson and Nate Serevi, both of whom scored tries for the Junior All Americans at the Can-Am series. Serevi, along with Megan Pinson, also helped the first-ever Collegiate All American 7s team to an Elite City 7s title. Mele Halahuni, Ros Pena, Rolsma, Suli Tausinga, and Angela Ve’evalu also attended the National All Star Competitions during the summer.

And while the incoming class has not been released, CWU is looking forward to putting in-state talent like High School All Americans Leah Ingold, Joanna Moreira, and Hannah Lewandowski onto the pitch, as well as Washington Loggers Paige Wyatt, Kassandra Reynolds, and Daja Curtis.

It’s going to be an exciting – stay tuned.

Central Washington Fall 2015 Schedule
Sept 26 @ ORSU
Oct 3 v Washington State
Oct 10 v Seattle Saracens
Oct 10 v Washington
Oct 17 @ Norwich
Oct 18 @ Quinnipiac
Oct 24 v BYU
Oct 25 v Western Washington
Oct 31 v Oregon State
Nov 7 @ Oregon
Nov 7 @ Western Oregon