Another game came down to the closing minutes for the Glendale Raptors.
Another game, another win.
Rachel Ryan looked even better than expected in her return from injury and the Raptors beat the host San Diego Surfers 29-23 to clinch the Blue Conference title in the Women’s Premier League on Saturday.
The Raptors are now 4-1 in games decided by six or fewer points this season.
“Our conference is highly competitive and I think that helps build confidence,” Bullock said. “Finding ways to win or comeback and win, this team has fought through adversity and done well with that this season.”
Ryan, who’d sat out the first five games of the season after knee surgery, scored early in the second half to extend the lead to 26-8. Bullock praised the forward’s play afterward.
“She wasn’t limited. That’s a credit to how fit, how rugby fit, she kept herself while injured,” Bullock said. “She had great conditioning and looked strong.”
The Surfers comeback attempt, in the meantime, came up just short in the closing minutes.
They’d rallied for three consecutive tries to make it 26-23, but Hannah Stolba kicked through her fourth penalty of the game in the final moments and the Raptors held on for their third consecutive victory.
“This was a big win for us,” Bullock said. “We get to play the second team out of the other conference and not the top team until maybe the finals.”
The Raptors will in fact face a struggling New York Rugby program in the semifinals on November 13 at Infinity Park in Glendale. New York has gone 0-3-1 in its last four games heading into the postseason.
Glendale beat New York in a pair of meetings in 2013, but did not play them in 2014 or to date in 2015.
The Raptors host Beantown WRFC at Infinity Park on Saturday at 3pm in something of a tune-up game for the Women’s Premier League Championships.
Image Credit: Seth McConnell
This story originally appeared on infinityparkatglendale.com