The Women's Premier League began with all kinds of surprises. Suspicions that historically dominating teams were rebuilding this season appeared true after this weekend's results. WPL rookie San Diego downed defending champion New York 34-3; Twin Cities Amazons demolished the Minnesota Valkyries 64-10; and Keystone beat Beantown 19-5 for the first time during the WPL's existence.

Every match went to the underdog, except for the Berkeley vs DC Furies game. The All Blues were the favorite heading into weekend - and the season - and didn't disappoint the odds with a 52-12 win. But it wasn't the run-away that the final scoreline suggests.

Berkeley's Lucy Croy, Kelly Griffin and Jill Whitfield all dotted down tries, and Whitfield converted them all for 21 first-half points. DC did well to keep it close and saw captain Beth Noto and Julie Hogan dot down tries, the latter of which Jess Shipley converted for the 21-12 halftime score.

"We played a great first half," DC Furies coach Nancy Fitz said. "We felt we were competing well, moving the ball up and down the field. And twice when Berkeley scored, we came right back and scored. We were right there."

"DC denied us ball at the breakdown," Berkeley coach Kathy Flores said. "At halftime we talked about cleaning out the fringe better, so the scrumhalf had good ball to pass out to the backs. But we didn't adjust until the second half. In the WPL, you can't wait that long."

Flores was looking toward captains Ashley English and Hilary Hegener to enact those changes earlier on, as the majority of the team has only been playing with the All Blues for a couple of years at most.

Berkeley made the necessary tweaks to its play, and was able to poach some ball while DC attempted to mount an attack. The intensity that DC brought to the pitch in the first half was no longer there, and that allowed the All Blues to open up the game.

"I'm not entirely sure what it was," Fitz reflected on what might have instigated the flat second half. "Berkeley definitely picked up their game in the second half, and that was certainly a factor."

Griffin linked up well with Nathalie Marchino and added two more tries to her tally for the hat trick. The relationship worked well both ways, and Marchino also crossed the try line. Phoebe Boone and Hillary Hegener accounted for the forward tries, and Jamie Schukle handled the extras.

It was a comprehensive win for Berkeley, which saw some pretty rugby unfold in the second half in particular. For DC, building off of their first half of play keeps the team optimistic.

"People now have a taste and know we can play like that," Fitz said of the team's first 40 minutes. "It's a matter of putting the two halves together. We haven't had the preparation that we'd like, but it's just a matter of working with each other. The more practice we get, the more we'll be able to play a full 80 minutes."

The All Blues have a lot of work to do in Flores' estimation as well. This week will be spent testing the players' adaptability based off of what opponents throw at the starting 15.

The All Blues will host Keystone next weekend, while DC heads to Beantown.

Berkeley 52
Tries: Griffin 3, Boone, Croy, Hegener, Marchino, Whitfield
Conversions: Whitfield 3, Schukle 3

DC Furies 12
Tries: Noto, Hogan
Conversions: Shipley