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Written by RUGBYMag.com News Release
Saturday, 18 May 2013 11:00 |
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Eagle Women Edge Spain to make Plate Final |
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Sevens -
USA Sevens Women
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Amsterdam, Netherlands – The USA women's 7s team held on for a 10-7 victory against France in the Plate Semifinals Saturday to advance to the Amsterdam Sevens Plate Final against Spain.
Victoria Folayan opened the scoring in the third minute with a speedy run past two defenders from around midfield into the try zone. Kimber Rozier missed the conversion and the score stood at 5-0.
In the last minute of the first half, the Eagles’ sustained pressure on the attack resulted in a second try. Christy Ringgenberg accepted a quick pass from Folayan and sent Vanesha McGee out wide with a pass, where she found the try zone to extend the lead to 10-0.
Early in the second half, France was awarded a lineout. Quick passing and efficient rucking by the French allowed Jade Le Pesq easy entry into the Eagles’ try zone to cut the lead to 10-7.
The Eagles kept France from getting close to their defensive third, and successful ball retention ran down the clock until the final whistle blew to signal another victory in Amsterdam.
Spain defeated Australia in the other Plate Semifinal and will face the Eagles in the Plate Final at 10:50 A.M. ET. Spain lost to the Eagles in pool play 17-5 on Friday.
Women's Eagles Sevens | vs. France
Jillion Potter
Kelly Griffin
Vanesha McGee
Deven Owsiany
Sadie Anderson
Bui Baravilala
Victoria Folayan
Kimber Rozier
Emilie Bydwell
Katie Dowty
Christy Ringgenberg
Nathalie Marchino
USA 10
Tries: Folayan, McGee
France 7
Tries: Le Pesq
Convs: Le Pesq
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Written by Alex Goff
Friday, 17 May 2013 23:34 |
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Gonzaga Rebounds After Rough Start |
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School Age -
Boys
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Top-ranked Gonzaga seemed to be destined to play in the Boys Single-School final until the opening moments of Friday's semifinal against Indiana's Penn HS, but then things started to go south. Penn kicked. Penalty and then ran in a try to lead 10-0. Worse yet, their HS All-American flyhalf, Ben Cima, had a played fall on his arm. At first everyone though he'd broken his arm. It turned out to be a bowed bone - still painful and worrisome, but better with some rest. Wth Cima gone and Penn on the upswing, Gonzaga looked in trouble. "They had to fix all that themselves," said Gonzaga Director of Rugby Lee Kelly. "It was up to them to turn it around." Captains Matt Flynn, prop, and Dominic Plantamura, No. 8, settled the team down. Kelly brought on Matt Parrish, who had done such a fine job at scrumhalf as a sub earlier in the season, and told him to play #10.Parrish did brilliantly and scrumhalf Jimmy Ronan kicked for goal very well in Cima's absence, and Gonzaga got back on track. Flynn was inspirational in tight, getting his forwards to hang tough against a strong Penn pack, and the backs started to move the ball. "We knew that if we got sucked into a tight game we would be in trouble," said Kelly. "We had to stretch the field." Gonzaga scored three times to lead 19-15 at halftime and never looked back. Winning 45-27. For a team that had fallen behind and lost their best player, it was a quick and impressive comeback. "I am incredibly proud of the boys," said Kelly. "From the leadership of the captains to how the players just didn't panic and got back on track ... Just very proud." Gonzaga faces Jesuit Saturday in the final.
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Written by RUGBYMag.com News Release
Saturday, 18 May 2013 10:44 |
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Canada Drops USA in Amsterdam 7s QFs |
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Sevens -
USA Sevens Women
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Amsterdam, Netherlands – The USA women’s Eagles 7s team suffered their first defeat at the Amsterdam 7s Saturday with a 19-5 loss to Canada in the Cup Quarterfinals.
Canada surprised the Eagles on the opening kickoff with a short kick, which was caught cleanly by a Canadian. They moved the ball well to get down the field but knocked the ball on to turn over possession.
Victoria Folayan committed a knock on of her own to give Canada great field possession with a scrum, and they took advantage of it with Kayla Moleschi picking the ball up and taking a few steps into the try zone for the 5-0 lead.
Canada won the restart again, but a penalty stopped the attack. Folayan got the ball down the left side and ran around a couple of defenders before being tackled in the middle of the field. Vanesha McGee’s support was wasted with another knock on.
In the sixth minute, Canada’s Heather Moyes sent a kick down the touch line destined to go into touch, but the ball took a strange hop towards the middle of the field. Mandy Marchak out-hustled the Eagles defenders and ran from midfield with the ball for the try. She also kicked the successful conversion to extend the lead to 12-0 at halftime.
The Eagles finally got on the board at the 10-minute mark after some sustained attacking pressure in Canada’s half of the field. Folayan got the ball on the right side from Christy Ringgenberg and used her speed to make it into the try zone to cut the deficit to 12-5.
Jillion Potter and Deven Owsiany showed off their defensive prowess with their tackling in the final minutes of the match, but Canada eventually found a way to get around the two of them. Brittany Waters managed to find a gap in the Eagles’ defense and ran into the try zone as the final whistle sounded for the 19-5 win.
USA Lineup
Jillion Potter
Kelly Griffin
Vanesha McGee
Deven Owsiany
Sadie Anderson
Bui Baravilala
Victoria Folayan
Kimber Rozier
Emilie Bydwell
Katie Dowty
Christy Ringgenberg
Nathalie Marchino
USA 5
Tries: Folayan
Canada 19
Tries: Marchak, Moleschi, Waters
Convs: Marchak 2
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Written by Alex Goff
Friday, 17 May 2013 22:38 |
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Jesuit Races Away for Xavier |
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School Age -
Boys
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Sacramento's Jesuit High School did not participate in the 2012 National Invitational due to a disciplinary issue that kept them out of the post-season, but they made up for it Friday, racing away from an outstanding Xavier squad to win their 2013 NIT semifinal 39-20. The two teams battled in a tight contest early, and in fact Xavier looked the stronger in the first half, leading 20-10. But as the game wore on it became evident that Jesuit's back line was just a little bigger, a little faster, and very fit. Jesuit scored 29 unanswered points in the second half despite two yellow cards. "This team has a really good rugby IQ," said Jesuit Head Coach John Shorey. "We've only got two football players. The rest are guys who have been developing in the program." Paced by tries from their midfield of Zach Tavenner and Daniel Hodge, who combined for three, and with flanker Connor Rock putting in another player of the game performance, Jesuit put themselves in good shape for the final against an excellent Gonzaga team. "Gonzaga deserve the be the #1 team in the country," said Shorey. "It's going to be a great game."
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