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Written by RUGBYMag Staff
Monday, 01 August 2011 18:07 |
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Rozier's Boot Sees Women All Americans Through |
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Colleges -
All Americans
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Boulder, Colo. – The 2011 Women’s Collegiate All-American Touring Side faced the CIS All-Canada team on Sunday in the Can-Am Tournament and narrowly escaped with a 23-21 victory that went down to the final minutes.
The two days in between the All American’s last match with the Canadian team proved invaluable, as they were able to produce 20 points Sunday against the 3 points they earned Thursday. Flyhalf Kimber Rozier led the way for the Women’s All-American Touring Side as she accumulated 18 points throughout the match.
Rozier’s first points came early on when in the eighth minute she was able to touch down and give the WCAA their first lead of Can-Am play. Her conversion brought the score to 7-0. Faced with their first deficit in two matches, the CIS team quickly responded with a try and conversion by winger, Magali Harvey in the 15th minute. This was Harvey’s second try in as many matches and it leveled the score through the first quarter of play. The All Americans answered the Canadians try within seven minutes and regained the lead when lock, Wendy Sherman, was able to power her way through the CIS defense on her way to the try zone. Rozier nailed her second conversion of the day and brought the score to 14-7 in favor of the Americans. Rozier’s foot was steady throughout the entire first half; she made two conversions and in the 26th and 34th minutes she made two penalty kicks that stretched the US ladies lead to 13 points heading into the waning minutes of the first half. The All American defense was on point throughout the remainder of the first half until CIS outside center Shannon Court scampered in for a try with no time left on the first half clock; the Harvey conversion brought the score to 20-14 in favor of the All Americans at halftime. The next 20 minutes of play was a back and forth affair seeing multiple possession changes but no scoring. That was until the 64th minute when CIS flyhalf, Kate Foulds, scored a try to put the score at 20-19 with the conversion to come. Magali Harvey made the crucial kick and the Canadians took a 20-21 lead heading into the last 15 minutes of play. With the pressure mounting and time running out, the All Americans morphed into early match form and forced CIS to commit a penalty in the 72nd minute. Rozier was cool in taking the crucial kick and knocked it over to secure the 23-21 victory for the All Americans.
Women’s Collegiate All-Americans
Tries: Rozier, Sherman
Convs: Rozier 2
Pens: Rozier 3
CIS All-Canadians
Tries: Harvey, Court, Foulds
Convs: Harvey 3
Women’s Collegiate All-American Touring Side
15 Katie Lorenz (UNC-Chapel Hill)
14 Rebekah Siebach (BYU)
13 Katie O’Malley (Stonehill)
12 Ryan Carlyle (South Carolina)
11 Tyra McGrady (Indiana)
10 Kimber Rozier (c) (UNC-Chapel Hill)
9 Alyssa Baccarella (MIT)
1 Nwakaego Onyekwere (Penn St.)
2 Rachel Ryan (Wyoming)
3 Elizabeth Fierman (Northeastern)
4 Morgan Johnson (North Dakota State)
5 Wendy Sherman (Colorado State)
6 Joanna Kitlinski (Grand Valley State)
7 Kendra Klump (MSU-Mankato)
8 Laura Miller (St. Mary’s College of Md)
Reserves
16 Justina DeBruzzi (St. Thomas) on for O’Malley at 62
17 Brittany Houston (UW-Milwaukee) on for Baccarella at 66
18 Melissa Krug (Univ. Minnesota-Twin Cities)
19 Rebekah Knappe (Colorado State)
20 Kyle Armstrong (Penn State)
21 Evelyn Ashenbrucker (UC San Diego) on for Johnson at 53
CIS All-Canadian Team
15 Lisa Gauthier (St. Francis Xavier)
14 Jennifer Shotbolt (Univ. of Western Ontario)
13 Shannon Court (Univ. of Lethbridge)
12 Rachel McMaster (Univ. of Western Ontario)
11 Magali Harvey (St. Francis Xavier)
10 Kate Foulds (Univ. of Ottawa)
9 Susan Heald (Queen’s Univ.)
1 Briana Cunningham (Univ. of Waterloo)
2 Mary-Jane Kirby (Guelph Univ.)
3 Elie Papineau (Univ. Laval)
4 Abby Goodwin (Univ. of Victoria)
5 Randi Hunter (Univ. of Victoria)
6 Lea Leahy (Concordia Univ.)
7 Jessica Jacobs (St. Francis Xavier)
8 Sam Eyles (Univ. of Waterloo)
Reserves
16 Sumara Profit (Univ. of Prince Edward Island)
17 Steffany Hoffman (Univ. of Alberta) on for Hunter at 52
18 Chelsea Waldie (Univ. of Prince Edward Island) on for Court at 60
19 Cameron Hobbs (Univ. of Alberta) on for Goodman at 52
20 Elizabeth Mackinnon (Univ. of Calgary)
21 Andrea Wadsworth (Queen’s Univ.)
22 Natasha Watcham-Roy (Univ. of Ottawa)
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Written by Alex Goff
Monday, 01 August 2011 16:30 |
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SFGG Hopes for Golden Moment |
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Sevens -
Club Sevens
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It wasn’t that long ago that Jone Naqica was playing in the National 7s Club Championships.
 The former USA 7s captain was a key figure on the San Francisco Golden Gate team in recent years. But a nasty concussion in December, 2009 essentially ended his USA prospects, and a knee injury during the following Super League season put him on the sidelines long-term in 2010.
That’s one reason why Naqica was manning the scoreboard at last year’s national championships. This year, he’s back involved, as coach of SFGG, the #2 seed out of the Pacific Coast and the team that upended highly-favored Old Puget Sound.
SFGG beat the defending champs 22-21 in the Pacific Coast semis, and while they were defeated by Utah in the final, they still have to come into the national tournament, at their own field, full of confidence.
“That was an exciting game,” said Naqica of the match against OPSB. “It was a gutsy win. The boys just refused to lose that game.”
A nifty playmaker not know for his crunching hits as a player, Naqica has put together a team that is very physical and starts it all with defense. He has a hard-nosed group of forwards who have to be physical up front.
“Physicality and patience are keys to winning every game,” he said. “I think we did well at the Pacific Coast championships. We lost to Utah, but they are a really good team and we were playing in Salt Lake City. Playing five games, at altitude, was really tough on the board. We didn’t have a lot of time for recovery. Things will be different on Treasure Island.”
SFGG also saw their leader, Mose Timoteo, hurt in Utah. He will be healthy for this weekend. And he’ll be needed, because SFGG is in the Pool of Death with Utah, Chicago Lions and Glendale.
“It’s nothing new,” laughed Naqica. “We’re always in the Pool of Death. But to be the best you have to beat the best, so we are just going to deal with it.”
Timoteo leads a solid SFGG squad that includes Steve St. Pierre and Danny Barrett in the forwards. Andrea Bola Asuega, and Opeti and Tevita Okusi out wide. Mile Pulu opted to play with East Palo Alto, but Naqica decided not to cry over spilled milk there and simply put together the best team he can. The addition of the experienced Ben Green certainly helps, as does Hector Quiles.
SFGG is deep, which they will need in this pool, and athletic. But, as all the coaches are saying, it’s not just about athleticism.
“We need to play as a team,” Naqica concluded. “We have lot of options and lots of good players. But all of them have to play as a team.”
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Written by RUGBYMag Staff
Monday, 01 August 2011 16:33 |
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RuggaMatrix America Show 63: Clever and Eagles Want More |
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MultiMedia -
RuggaMatrix America
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 Todd Clever checks in with the RuggaMatrix panel to talk about his preparation and the desire of all the USA players to have more time together.
Alex Goff, Bruce McLane and Pat Clifton also break down the USA 7s National Championships, picking their pool winners and their contenders for the title. To listen, click here, or right-click to download to listen later.
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Written by Pat Clifton
Monday, 01 August 2011 16:12 |
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Glendale Limping to Nationals |
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Sevens -
Club Sevens
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 The Glendale Raptors have lost just two 7s games this summer, but they could prove costly. Glendale won the West’s first qualifier in Dallas, going 5-0.
Their next outing, a round-robin event in San Diego, the Raptors swept their SoCal competition.
In the third and final West qualifier, Glendale went 3-2 and finished third. Because of a log jam at the top of the West standings, their loss to the Denver Barbarians in the semifinals relegated them to playing a one-off against the Dallas Harlequins for the West’s third seed to Nationals, which they won.
Had Glendale opted to play in the Kansas City West Qualifier instead of San Diego, chances are they’d have landed in a better pool at Nationals than the consensus pool of death, which includes heavy hitters SFGG, Utah and the Chicago Lions.
Only two teams won a West Qualifier this summer -- Glendale and The Woodlands Exiles -- but the Barbarians amassed enough points by playing all three qualifiers to eclipse Glendale and finish second.
“Obviously, we’ve got a very strong pool due to the fact that we finished third here in Denver. It puts us in a situation to have to play the top teams from the other regions,” said Glendale coach Andre Snyman.
“At the end of the day, we have to play our game, focus on our game plan, try and stick to our structures, and we’ll basically face the team that plays us a game at a time, and if we can stick to our defensive patterns, attacking patterns and our decision making, we’re in for a shot.”
The Raptors have defeated more Nationals-bound teams this summer than anyone else playing in San Francisco this weekend, notching wins over OMBAC, Belmont Shore and Denver, but they’re somewhat limping to the final tournament of the season.
Shae Tamati, who started every game in the Raptors run to the 15s National Title, has a bum calf, which he suffered during pool play in Denver. Spencer Scott, the former Aspen captain, has a strained hamstring, which kept him on the sidelines in Denver. Both range from questionable-to-doubtful for the weekend.
Those injuries are compounded by the ineligibility of Dustin Croy, a 15s stalwart for the Raptors whose 7s season started late due to injury, preventing him from playing in two tournaments. He’s applied for an eligibility waiver (for rule 9.2 a), but a waiver hasn’t been granted by USA Rugby, much to the chagrin of Snyman.
“We’ve got a few injuries, and we’ve got a situation with Dustin Croy where USA Rugby doesn’t want to sign his waiver, although he’s been with the club for two, three years. He injured himself before the first tournament, before Dallas.
“He’s always been part of the squad, and now all of a sudden USA Rugby doesn’t want to sign his waiver. You don’t move rugby forward if that is the attitude of the union. He’s a good player, and at the end of the day you want your good players to go to tournaments like Nationals and get exposure. That’s how you move things forward with the sport. It’s not like he’s a fly-by-night, import player. He’s always been part of our squad.”
With Glendale’s two best forwards not guaranteed to play and one of their most dependable wings out, Snyman is relying on even bigger performances from the team’s other playmakers, like Ata Malifa, Bradley Winbush and Dewon Reed.
“I think players of their caliber will definitely know that they will have to lift their game, because we;’ve got, if I can use the term, a bit of a flat tire,” said the former Springbok.
“Obviously the other teams have a little more depth than us, but sometimes it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the heart in the dog. My guys are not big, but they’ve a really good attitude towards the game, big heart, a fighting spirit, a never die attitude, and that counts a lot.”
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