Beantown had a great weekend at the women’s club championship. As the only team that has ever fielded a Women’s Premier League and DII team at nationals, the club was rewarded with two third-place finishes. The DII side started their trip with a 20-3 win over the Albuquerque Atomic Sisters, then dropped a 19-5 decision in the semifinals to Severn River. The team rebounded Sunday, topping Ft. Miami 33-5.

“The whole season, we said, ‘Let’s peak at nationals,’” Beantown DII coach Laurie Bourbon said. “Yesterday’s game, we didn’t play to our potential, and we played well but not great on Friday. We came in here today and just put it all together – our launch, our backline just executed their plays. So really, we just gelled.”

Beantown got up to 12-0 lead when flanker Tara Roberts – one of Beantown’s most effective piercers – dotted down, followed by a try from young, speedy wing Wyndham Juneau. Amanda Cleary added the conversion.

“She was amazing throughout the weekend,” Bourbon said of Cleary. “She struck very hard in our backline plays, made some amazing conversions and some great tackles.”

Ft. Miami fought back, sending some big, hard runners – in particular, No. 8 Maureen Arcila and flanker Virginia Perez – into space and exploiting some slow-to-the-ground tackling.

The local team was rewarded before the break, taking advantage of a fortunate opportunity. Beantown had stolen a Ft. Miami scrum deep in their own end, but the referee interfered with the subsequent play and the scrum was replayed. In that moment, Ft. Miami got one of their sin-binned players back into the pack, kept their scrum and sent a weakside movement into the try zone. Inside center Brie Cokos dotted down, 12-5.

But the second half was all Beantown. Maddy Vera, Kathleen Phelan and Stacia Thompson finished off nice some nice phase play, while Cleary added another three conversions.

“In our pack, Maddy our No. 8, was amazing,” Bourbon said. “It’s never-say-die with her and she gives you 110% every game.”

The real victory was for the club. No other team can make such a claim at nationals, and it’s a true reward that both sides finished so well.

“Having two sides here has been phenomenal,” Bourbon said. “As an older [alum] player, you grow with the team, see the changes, see where you’ve been, and you see the future. Beantown’s been around for 36 years and knowing that you’re helping instill a feeling that you’re going to go on for another 36 years feels good.”