Round 5 of the 2019 WPL season brought us another Berkeley nailbiter, a pair of comfortable wins from Atlanta and New York, and a demolition derby from Glendale. 

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Here's how it went down in Week 5:

Glendale Merlins vs ORSU Jesters

This one was ugly. Really ugly. The Glendale Merlins put on a clinic in front of a home crowd to the tune of a 98-0 shutout. 

The win moves Glendale to 3-1 on the season and keeps them in second place behind Life West in the WPL West. 

USA Eagle Kaitlyn Broughton, the newest Merlin, paved the way scoring six tries from her wing position. The former Life University and Atlanta Harlequin is a welcome addition to the Glendale side and seems to have found her footing nicely in Colorado. 

The Merlins' other winger, Beatriz Amaral, scored a hat trick herself. Nine tries scored by the wings is a good testament to Glendale's ability to spread the field and find hands. 

No. 8 Carmen Farmer, who has been brilliant thus far in 2019, had another cracking game for the Merlins. As she's done all year, Farmer had Glendale on the front foot with her ball-carrying ability, affording her outside backs time and space to make things happen. 

Things continue to get worse for the Jesters this year. Through four games, ORSU has been outscored 230-17, and the schedule doesn't ease up any for them. 

They will face those same four teams again, and there haven't been any signs of improvement from Week 1 to Week 4. 

It's an unfortunate development for a team that has generally been a competitive WPL side. They will have the Berkeley All Blues coming to town next week. 

Glendale: 98
Tries: Broughton 6, Farmer, Amaral 3, Nalbandian, Cantorna, Tordonato, O'Brien, Schrenker, Beard
Convs: Cantorna 5, Hawkins 4

ORSU: 0

Berkeley All Blues vs San Diego Surfers

In a hugely important game in the WPL West, the All Blues just withstood a roaring Surfers comeback to hang on 24-18 at home.

The win is crucial for Berkeley in the playoff race, as they improved to 2-2 and just a game back of second-place Glendale. 

San Diego, the defending champs, have now dropped to 1-3 and are in serious danger of missing the playoffs altogether. 

The game featured a number of momentum swings throughout, as both teams were determined to pick up this much-needed victory. 

The Surfers opened the game strongly and were rewarded in the ninth minute through fullback Megan Foster. She got on the end of a deft chip kick by flyhalf Rachel Griendling and dotted down for the first try. 5-0 San Diego. 

It didn't take long for the All Blues to respond. As they've done all season, Berkeley utilized their killer lineout to set a nice attacking platform in Surfers territory. From there the center pairing of Evan Hoese and Bulou Mataitoga linked up nicely to set the latter up for a very nice try. 5-5 after 13 minutes. 

Berkeley continued to make use of their lineout and found themselves spending much of the half on San Diego's side of the field. Their pressure earned them a second try through lock Allison Byrne, who picked and drove over in front of the sticks. 12-5 Berkeley, 18 minutes in. 

All Blues flyhalf Kristen Siano made it 19-5 on 34 minutes after she powered through a few tackles en route to the tryline and then converted her own score. 

Just before the halftime hooter, the Surfers earned a penalty in front of the posts. Foster stepped up and nailed the kick to bring the scores to 19-8 at halftime. 

Despite the penalty kick on the stroke of halftime, the momentum remained with Berkeley. Just two minutes in the second stanza, Berkeley crossed the tryline was the ball was held up in-goal. 

The ensuing scrum was a dominant one, and Siano took advantage of front-foot ball to truck her way over her opposite number for the try. 24-8 All Blues. 

Sensing their season could be in jeopardy, the Surfers dug in. 

San Diego really upped the tempo, and the play of lock Jaime Albarelli and No. 8 Julia Buescher really got the Surfers back into the game. The two forwards ran hard and ran straight, giving their team quick, clean ball to work with. 

In the 60th minute, Buescher scored a deserved try. A series of phases got them down to the goal line, where the No. 8 thought quickly and stretched the ball out from the base of the ruck over the line for the score. The conversion was again no good, and with 20 minutes remaining it was a 24-13 lead for Berkeley. 

The entire rest of the game was played in the All Blues' half, but the defense, spearheaded by a tremendous afternoon from Bulou Mataitoga, continued to hold strong time and time again. 

Eventually, the Surfers found paydirt through center Teigan MacDonald. The young playmaker had herself a strong game, and on this occasion picked a beautiful line off of scrumhalf Elizabeth Trujillo and knifed through for the score. 

Once again, the conversion attempt failed, keeping the scores at 24-18 with four minutes remaining. It was an unusually inaccurate day off the tee for Megan Foster. Usually Ms. Automatic, her shots at goal were just not quite on the mark Saturday. 

However, San Diego still had an opportunity to win. They got the ball back with one minute remaining, and about 50 meters to go for a try. 

The final play was truly an incredible effort from both sides. San Diego ran through 22 phases, all the way down to just a few meters from the Berkeley tryline, before Evan Hoese poached a ball at the breakdown right in front of the posts, winning her side a penalty. 

That's how it ended. Both teams played their hearts out, and it was a shame one of them had to lose. But the All Blues, after falling late a week ago, were this time on the other side of a tight finish. 

Berkeley: 24
Tries: Mataitoga, Byrne, Siano 2
Convs: Siano 2

San Diego - 18
Tries: Foster, Buescher, MacDonald
Pens: Foster

Beantown RFC vs New York Rugby Club

New York put on a dominant defensive effort to handle Beantown 22-3. 

Both units did a fine job of exerting defensive pressure on one another, with the teams combining for just two tries until the 76th minute. 

New York No. 8 Chloe Jex was a standout performer, making a number of line breaks throughout the game and showcasing her power and speed. 

After a Tatjana Toeldte penalty in the 13th minute put Beantown up 3-0, New York would go on to handle the rest of the scoring. 

The first try was a well-worked passage of phases that saw the ball go sideline to sideline until, eventually, the ball got out to New York winger Sarah Levy. The shifty winger snuck her way into the left corner of the whitewash to give her team a 5-3 lead after 17 minutes. 

New York continued to build pressure for most of the half, and once again used good continuity and patience to open up an overlap out wide. This time it was lock and USA Eagle Alycia Washington who got her hands on it in the right-hand channel. She threw one dummy pass and sauntered into the endzone for a 10-3 lead. 

The second half was another defensive struggle. While Beantown center Kathleen Phelan had a strong game running the ball, the rest of the squad was unable to make the most of it. 

It wasn't until the 76th minute that any more points were scored, but former Lindenwood flanker Gionna Cruz's late try all but sealed the contest for New York. 

Beantown pressed for a late bonus point try, but were turned over inside New York territory. The women from NYC turned that into a length of the field counterattack, which center Misha Green turned into a long scamper for the try. 

It was a bonus point, 22-3 victory for New York, and an important win in the context of the WPL East standings. Three teams now sit at 2-2 in the East, and the race for playoff spots down the stretch will be intense. 

Beantown: 3
Pens: Toeldte

New York: 22
Tries: Levy, Washington, Cruz, Green
Convs: Feury

Chicago North Shore vs Atlanta Harlequins

The Harlequins extended their win streak to three on Sunday, while the Shore dropped a third consecutive contest, this time a 22-7 defeat at home to Atlanta. 

Scoring has seemed to escape Chicago as of late. After their opening round 31-point outing, they have mustered just 15 points total in the following three games. 

Atlanta, meanwhile, continues to impress. With three bonus-point wins on the trot, the Quins are firmly in first place in the WPL East halfway through the regular season. 

Monique Compito got Atlanta on the scoresheet with an early try. It's the little winger's third try in three appearances on the season. 5-0 Atlanta after six minutes. 

At the quarter-hour mark, Atlanta's lead was extended through Shamira Robles. The former New York Rugby Club center was making her debut in Atlanta colors, and that's just the introduction she wanted to make. 10-0 Atlanta. 

Chicago pulled one back in the 28th minute when former Notre Dame flanker Olga Niyibizi went over and Nicole Fisch converted to make it a 10-7 game. 

Just before halftime, Robles scored her second of the game, and this time flyhalf Corinne Heavner slotted the extras to take the lead back out to 17-7 at the break. 

The lone score of the second half was a try from Atlanta second-rower Lisa Jackson. Typically a prop, Jackson showed she offers versatility to this Harlequins pack. Her score on Sunday was her sixth of the season, and the former Raleigh Viper is making a serious case as newcomer of the year. 

The remainder of the game would stay scoreless, but with their four tries Atlanta still bagged a bonus point and stayed top of the standings in the East. 22-7 final. 

Chicago: 7
Tries: Niyibizi
Convs: Fisch

Atlanta: 22
Tries: Compito, Robles 2, Jackson
Convs: Heavner