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Written by Jackie Finlan    Sunday, 07 August 2011 21:42    PDF Print Write e-mail
All Blues Golden in 7s Final
Sevens - Club Sevens

The Berkeley All Blues are the first Women's Club 7s champions, beating the Boston Belles 36-0 in the final. The one-sided affair capped off a dominating day of play, one that began with wins over Glendale in the quarterfinals and DC Furies in the semis.

Berkeley powers over for one of its six tries. (Dobson Images)
Emilie Bydwell (right) reigns in the ball for Boston. (Dobson Images)
Gardner scores for the All Blues. (Dobson Images)

Berkeley exited day one as the second seed in pool A, having beat Belmont Shore and Philadelphia, and tied Boston Belles and NOVA. "Our games against the Belles and NOVA were our hardest of the weekend," said former Belles coach Brandon Sparks, who now shares Berkeley 7s coaching duties with former Eagle Laura Cabrera. "We were leading by two tries and the Belles evened it up in the last minute. Against NOVA, we had to play from behind - something we hadn't done most of the summer, so we learned a lot from those two matches."

Pool play was a learning experience for Berkeley. Coaches experimented with player combinations, while athletes banked some important lessons that would aid their run to the title the following day. During the film and skills sessions, the coaches sat back as the players internalized those lessons and began coaching themselves.

"They started identifying what mistakes they made themselves," Sparks said of the film session. "That's when you know they've hit the next level - identifying mistakes in the system without us pointing it out to them. A lot of credit has to go to the players for the adjustments that were made for Sunday."

The transition realized itself on the field today, and the All Blues got a second shot at rectifying one of its ties from pool play. One-sided affairs saw them line up against Sparks' former team, and as a coach, that was a difficult situation.

"The final was very hard," Sparks reflected. "I helped create the Belles last year with Kelly Seary, Katie Dowty and Emilie Bydwell. I had hand-picked many of the players last year, so it was like playing your child. You have to give it to Bydwell, Searly and Emily Malkin, who not only stepped up and led from the front, but also acted as coaches. Bydwell was especially phenomenal. She was playing with a broken hand and sacrificed everything."

The Belles had a difficult road to the final, having exited Saturday as the third seed in their pool. They knocked off last year's finalist, San Diego Surfers, before eliminating NOVA (while a man down) in the semis.

The All Blues were running at full throttle, defeating Glendale and the DC Furies to advance to the championship. Kelly Griffin and Nathalie Marchino were the go-to playmakers, who "attacked everything and went hard from the first whistle on Saturday to the last whistle on Sunday," according to Sparks, who also tipped his cap to role players Liz Terry and Phoebe Boone.

"I give special credit to Phoebe, who does all the those little things that the casual fan wouldn't notice, but that sway the game and control possession," Sparks said. "She was contesting rucks, poaching the ball, making the right call in the scrum. She has a very high workrate, does a lot of stuff off the ball like organizing defense and marking up. Her defense is solid and her attack is developing well. She scored two tries in the final."

Sparks also noted Irene Gardner's performance. "After this weekend, Irene definitely deserves a look from national coaches," Sparks said. "She was up against some tough opposition, but was side-stepping, running dynamic angles - all the things you look for."

Sparks has been fortunate working with the All Blues, which corales the region's best athletes and showcased a number of national team players. The coach synced well with Cabrera, a longtime All Blues player and coach, and her knowledge of the team's personnel complimented their leadership and has grown the team's summer 7s program. In the past, Berkeley has played 7s socially, but this summer saw upward of 30 women at every training and lured even more young talent to the team.

"Maricel Quirindongo-Crespo is one of several young, talented players from the [University of] California, which has really shown up in force," Sparks said. "We started her against DC because of her speed and attacking talent, but she hasn't really faced players of the caliber of Ida Bernstein. Previous to the match, Nathalie [Marchino] was talking about how wings don't stiffarm enough. And then Maricel laid this huge stiffarm against Ida in the middle of the field."

Sparks is confident that this experience will only enrich the All Blues' 7s program, especially since East Coast college players interning in the area are gravitating toward the club for 7s instruction. And now that women's club 7s has an official event to rally around, the standard of play can only improve.

"This year's event was well respected, and USA Rugby did a lot to develop women's 7s," Sparks said. "More could have been done, but this was the first event, so you can't criticize too harshly about the mistakes that were made [on the organizational side]. All of the teams came well prepared, and there was some first-class, champagne rugby displayed from everyone - even from the last-place team."

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Written by RUGBYMag Staff    Sunday, 07 August 2011 21:08    PDF Print Write e-mail
Men's 7s Nationals Box Scores: Day Two
Sevens - Club Sevens

Bowl Semis
Boston 12
Tries: Quick, Kawuma
Cons: Marshall

Atlanta 10
Tries: Muchugia, Wantzel

Bowl Semis
SFGG 19
Tries: Barrett (2), Green
Cons: Timoteo (2)

Denver 14
Tries: Legge, Kramer
Cons: DeAchaval

Bowl Final
SFGG 22
Tries: Timoteo, Larsen, Aswega, Okosi
Cons: Timoteo

Boston 5
Tries: Moore

Bowl Consolation
Atlanta 34
Tries: Brenneman, Omondi, Barford (2), Woods, Ngamau
Cons: Winiarczyk, Konda

Denver 7
Tries: Spaur
Cons: DeAchaval

Plate Semis
Marist 19
Tries: Notoa, Vaka, Soala
Cons: Taumua, D (2)

Middlesex 12
Tries: West, Collinson
Cons: Vettese

Plate Semis
Chicago 14
Tries: Eloff (2)
Cons: Peterson (2)

Woodlands 12
Tries: Slater, Mack
Cons: Mack

Plate Final
Chicago 40
Tries: Eloff, Harrington, Dolan, Degutes, Bluemel, Franco
Cons: Peterson (5)

Marist 7
Tries: Vaka
Cons: Taumua, D

Cup Semis
Schulkill River 24
Tries: Ambrogi (2), Wright, Knipscher
Cons: Wright (2)

Utah 22
Tries: Nicholls (3), Blasucci
Cons: Pye

Cup Semis
Belmont Shore 17
Tries: Ross, Suniula, Howden
Cons: Suniula

Youngbloodz 12
Tries: Johnson, Bender
Cons: Augspurger

Cup Consolation
Utah 26
Tries: Unufe, Chapman, Pye, Nicholls
Cons: Nicholls, Palefau

Youngbloodz 7
Tries: Augspurger, N
Cons: Augspurger, S

Cup Final
Belmont 37
Tries: Howden (2), Boyd (2), Pitts, Ross, Hamilton
Cons: Suniula

Schuylkill 14
Tries: Wright (2)
Cons: Wright (2)

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Written by Pat Clifton    Sunday, 07 August 2011 16:12    PDF Print Write e-mail
Thrilling Cup Semifinals in San Francisco
Sevens - Club Sevens

Schuylkill River pulled off the upset, and the Youngbloodz nearly did. Utah and Belmont Shore, champs of the Pacific Coast and Southern California, respectively, were the odds-on favorites in the Cup Semifinals. They had the Eagles, and neither Youngbloodz nor Schuylkill River had any. Well, as it turns out, you don't need Eagles to win at the Club 7s championships.

The Warriors opened scoring when Ben Nicholls, who scored three times in Utah's quarterfinal win over Marist, dotted down. But Schuylkill River's top playmaker, and perhaps the tournament's top try scorer (stats to be compiled after the finals) Greg Ambrogi responded with a pair of tries, putting Utah on its heels.

Down 14-7, Utah got the ball into the hands of Maka Unufe, who has been fantastic for them, and as he was screaming up the sidelines, attempting to penetrate Schuylkill's defense, Ambrogi delivered a big-time tackle, forcing a knock. Ambrogi and Unufe were hurt on the play, knocking both of their team's go-to players out of the game.

Schuylkill won the ensuing scrum, while their best player was being tended to still on the pitch, and swung the ball from one sideline to the other for a third try. The conversion was missed, putting the Mid-Atlantic champs up 19-7 at halftime.

To open the second half, the Warriors went a man down when prop Chet Blasucci was binned for a shoulder charge. Shortly after Schuylkill toed through the penalty, Nicholls picked up and errant pass and sprinted for his second try of the game, pulling Utah within three at 19-12. 

The Warriors had all the momentum, and Blasucci drew them closer when he crashed through for a try in the corner after returning from the bin. The difficult conversion was missed, and Utah trailed 19-17.

Schuylkill extended its lead immediately when Will Knipscher outran Utah down the touchline and scored. The conversion was missed.

Utah would get just one more possession after pushing Schuylkill into touch deep in Warrior territory. After multiple methodical phases orchestrated by Mike Palefau, the Eagle made a wraparound pass to a charging Nicholls who scored directly under the posts. The conversion attempt to force overtime was one Jason Pye has made hundreds of times before, about 10 meters from the tryline centered in the middle of the field. But this time, he shanked it right, and Schuylkill advanced to the title game 24-22 winners.

The second semifinal looked in the beginning like it was supposed to. Belmont controlled the action and put in the first couple of tries, one via Alex Ross and the other via Shalom Suniula, to take a 12-0 lead, which they'd carry into the break.

The Youngbloodz finally got on the board in the opening minute of the second half, when captain Nick Johnson carried multiple Belmont tacklers into the try zone, pulling the Minnesota team within seven at 12-5.

The score seemed to knock Belmont out of its comfort zone, and after back-to-back penalties, elusive Youngbloodz scrumhalf Nate Augspurger darted toward the tryline, drawing multiple defenders, and slipped a no-look pass to a charging Johnson. Ruck won inches from pay dirt, Garrett Bender plucked the ball and slammed it into the try zone. The conversion was good, drawing the Youngbloodz level with mighty Belmont.

Belmont sub Justin Boyd then made the play you'd expect of an Eagle at the club championships when he forced his speeding body into a would-be tackler, but kept the ball at arm's length, and slipped an offload to a charging Taylor Howden, who took in the game winner (final score: 17-12) with no time on the clock.  

Belmont and Schuylkill River meet in the Cup final at 4:30pm local time. Schuylkill's Greg Ambrogi is expected to play.

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Written by RUGBYMag Staff    Sunday, 07 August 2011 21:06    PDF Print Write e-mail
Women's 7s Nationals Box Scores: Day Two
Sevens - USA Sevens Women

Cup Semi
NOVA 19
Tries: Hoeck (2), Hanson (1)
Conversions: Black (2)
Atlanta Harlequins 5
Tries: Blosser (1)

Cup Semi
Boston Belles 7
Tries: Mattein (1)
Conversions: Seary (1)
San Diego Suffers 0

Cup Semi
Berkeley All Blue 24
Tries: Gardner, E (1), Gardner, I (2) Griffin (1)
Conversions: Griffin (2)
Glendale 7
Tries: Stolba (1)
Conversions: Stolba (1)

Cup Semi
Philadelphia 12
Tries: Hallinan (1), Hegg (1)
Conversions: Hallinan (1)
DC Furies 20
Tries: Shipley (1), Bernstein (3)

Bowl Final
Belmont Shore 5
Tries: Chang (1)
Seattle Breakers 19
Tries: Rogers (2), Sanders (1)
Conversions: Sanders (2)

Plate Semi
Atlanta Harlequins 10
Tries: Smith (1), Blosser (1)
San Diego Surfers 24
Tries: Measures (1), Wilson (1), Strohecker (2)
Conversions: Hartos (1), Smith (1)

Cup Semi
NOVA 7
Tries: Hanson (1)
Conversions: Primo (1)
Boston Belles 17
Tries: Clancy (2), Orlin (1)
Conversions: Seary (1)

Plate Semi
Glendale 7
Tries: Edwards (1)
Conversions: Stolba
Philadelphia 5
Tries: Ridout (1)
Cup Semi
Berkeley 36
Tries: Marchino (4), Quirindongo-Crespo (1), Griffin (1)
Conversion: Griffin (2), Marchino (1)
DC Furies 5
Tries: Shipley (1)

Plate Consolation
Atlanta Harlequins  20
Tries: Morrison (2), Likes (1), Mannino-Dickson (1)
Philadelphia 19
Tries: Hallinan (2), Foley (1)
Conversions: Foley (1), Hallinan (1)

Plate Final
San Diego Surfers 5
Tries: Fields (1)
Glendale 12
Tries: Stolba (1), Lucia (1)
Conversions: Edwards (1)

Cup Consolation
NOVA 12
Tries: McQueen (1), Hildreth (1)
Conversions: Black (1)
DC Furies 5
Tries: White (1)

Cup Final
Berkeley 34
Tries: Boone (1), Garnder, I (2), Griffin (2), Gardner, E (1)
Conversions: Griffin (2)
Boston 0

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Written by Pat Clifton    Sunday, 07 August 2011 13:48    PDF Print Write e-mail
Cup Quarterfinal Roundup
Sevens - Club Sevens

The Cup quarterfinal round started with a blowout, when the Utah Warriors crushed Marist of Hawaii 40-5. Marist was never in it, and Utah seemed to be on a warpath.

Maka Unife, who is the breakout player of the tournament, scored immediately, and Marist trailed the rest of the way. Ben Nicholls had a very worthy performance dotting down three tries.

The only potential setback for Utah was a limping Jason Pye. He pulled up limp, scored a try and then subbed off. Pye plays an integral role for the Warriors as the leader on the field. If he's hurt, they could suffer in the semis or finals.

The next game was a battle of two of the hardest-wrking teams in the tournament, Middlesex and Schuylkill. Middlesex jumped out to an early lead directly following the kickoff, and it seemed as though they may do to Schuylkill what they'd done to the competition on day one, out-effort them.

However, Schuylkill took a 14-5 lead with back-to-back tries from Greg Ambrogi and Will Knipscher and led the rest of the way, ultimately winning 29-15. Ambrogi was impressive, as he has been all tournament.

The final two Cup quarters were outstanding. Youngbloodz, the youngest team in the tournament and in their first-ever trip to Nationals, upset the Woodlands Exiles.

Youngbloodz led 12-0 near the end of the half with Tavake Sanft in the sin bin, and the threat of the Exiles' two Canadian internatinoals, Phil Mack and John Moonlight, taking over still loomed.

It started to happen just before the half when Mack took a ball from a ruck weakside and darted up the touch line setting up the Exiles first score.

Down 12-7 at intermission, the Exiles carried the momentum into the break. Moonlight took the second-half restart and raced it in for his first try of the game, giving the Houston team its first lead of the game. Not long after, he scored another long-range try via a superb individual effort to extend that lead to 21-12. It appeared as though the Youngbloodz were dead.

However, just as they had done against the Denver Barbarians in their first game of pool play, the Youngbloodz kept going, resulting in a Garrett Bender try that left about 90 seconds on the clock. The conversion was missed, and the Youngbloodz had to kick back to the Exiles down 21-17.

The Exiles worked into the Youngbloodz half of the field, but pesky defense forced a knock and a scrum. From that breakdown, Bender found an overlap and outraced Mack over half of the field for the winning score at the death, advancing the Youngbloodz Cinderella run to the Cup semis.

The final Cup quarterfinal, between Belmont Shore and Chicago, was the most anticipated, and it delivered. Chicago scored first after converting early Belmont pressure into a turnover deep in their end. When the Lions secured possession, they gave it to Rocco Mauer, who left Belmont in the dust en route to an 80-meter try.

Belmont nearly responded when Ed Pitts burst toward pay dirt, but he was stopped inches short of the try line and Shore was called for diving into the ruck. Belmont and Chicago exchanged entertaining offensive possessions and defensive stands, but the score remained 7-0 going into halftime.

Taylor Howden got Belmont on the scoreboard to start the second half by dummying an outside pass to Justin Boyd, creating a crease, which he took directly between the posts. Shalmon Suniula hit the conversion, leveling the score at 7-7.

Chicago's Peter Tiberio looked set to give the Lions a late lead when he shot through the center of Belmont's defense near midfield with no tackler in front of him. However, Boyd made the play of the game by closing in on him from several steps behind (think Willie Mays Hayes in Major League) and tackling him just short of five points.

Belmont tipped the scales in their favor by subbing on speedster Alex Ross near the 90-second mark. His first touch resulted in a blazing 50-plus-meter try during which he flew past Chicago's JP Eloff. There was enough time for one more play after Ross's score, but Chicago couldn't keep the ball alive, and Belmont advanced 14-7 winners.

The semifinals pit Utah against Schuylkill River and Youngbloodz against Belmont Shore. Anything other than a Utah/Belmont Shore final should be considered an upset.

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