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Written by Jackie Finlan
Saturday, 27 August 2011 14:38 |
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Women's NASC Semifinals Set |
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Sevens -
All-Stars
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The semifinals of the Women's National All Star 7s Championship have been set.
The Pacific Coast emerged victorious after a 38-0 shutout over the South (read more here) and anxiously awaited the winner of MARFU v Northeast to see who their semifinal opponent would be.
The Mid-Atlantic was the higher seeded team, having only lost one game on Saturday, a 12-5 contest to the Pacific Coast. The NRU went 1-2, dropping two tight matches to the USA Developmental and West.
But the sun was shining on the Northeast's this morning, and three tries from Katie Dowty, Emily Malkin and Jess Peterson, who also had three conversions, helped produce a 21-5 win over MARFU.
Ida Bernstein prevented the shutout with her sixth try of the tournament.
Also advancing to the semifinals are the West and USA Developmental. The West took on a weakened Midwest side, which eventually played with only six players after Christy Ringgenberg left the field with an injury.
But the Mustangs put their foot down early and produced a 26-7 win.
"Our whole game plan revolved around getting the ball wide, spreading the defense and testing the gaps," West coach Tracy Gola said. "We had some nice breakaways and had the majority of possession, so that definitely helped."
Hannah Stolba scored three tries and lit up the scoreboard early on to build some momentum.
"It was a great confidence booster, and off we went," Gola said.
Kathryn Pavao added a try as well, while Sara Edwards (2) and Stolba handled the conversions. Gola and co-coach Angel Bishop were pleased with the adjustments the players made from yesterday's games.
"We had some issues crashing the ball and going into contact," Gola said. "We did a better job of getting the ball away from pressure."
Looking ahead to the West's semifinal against the USA Developmental, which defeated Southern California 19-7 in its quarterfinal, the Mustangs are going to continue to adjust their play.
"We're going to have to modify our game plan a bit against the USA," Gola reflected on yesterday's 28-5 loss to the junior Eagles. "They run a pressure defense, sending three players hard on the ball, so we're going to have to play a little deeper and a little tighter."
It's a plan B for the Mustangs, and if the USA changes its strategy at all, the West will look to play the wide game that has served them well thus far.
Cup Semifinals
Pacific Coast v Northeast
USA Developmental v West
Consolation Semifinals
South v Mid-Atlantic
Southern Cal v Midwest
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Written by Jackie Finlan
Saturday, 27 August 2011 13:31 |
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Pac Coast Advance to Women's Semis |
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Sevens -
All-Stars
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The Pacific Coast cruised to a 38-0 win over the South during the quarterfinals of the women's National All Star 7s Championship. The Grizzlies will face the winner of MARFU v Northeast.
The South was scrappy and forced the Pacific Coast to work for the tries they dotted down, but the Grizzlies controlled the pace of the game and ran in six tries. The Gardner sisters teamed up for three tries, two from Irene, one from Elaine, who joined the squad late last night and injected some fresh legs onto the pitch. Kelly Griffin led on points scored, dotting down a try and slotting three conversions. San Juanita Moreno and Nathalie Marchino also scored tries.
"We're building toward what we expect to see later in the day," Pacific Coast coach Brandon Sparks said. "In the second half, we worked on pull-outs, keeping the ball away from the tackle and moving it away from traffic. We also wanted to keep our ruck count below seven. We had eight, so we did a good job."
Sparks had a difficult time singling out a standout player for the match, and tipped his hat to Griffin, Elaine Gardner and Cabrera for their typically solid performances.
"We're lucky to have such a good team," Sparks said. "Everyone has a job, everyone has a role, and they do it, and everyone benefits. As corny as this coaching cliche is, it's hard to single anyone out, because it was a team win."
Corny or not, the Pacific Coast is playing some solid team rugby and are looking good to advance deep into the tournament. Pacific Coast 38
Tries: Moreno, I. Gardner 2, Griffin, E. Gardner, Marchino
Cons: Griffin 3, E. Gardner
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Written by Alex Goff
Friday, 26 August 2011 23:02 |
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All Americans Need to target Consistency - Pati |
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Sevens -
All-Stars
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The Collegiate All Americans are not necessarily in the Men’s 7a National All-Star Championships to win, but don’t tell the players that.
 The All Americans finished Friday 3-0 in Pool Play, scoring 77 points and allowing only 26.
“It was a good day,” summarized scrumhalf Don Pati. “We had some mistakes. That second game we started good but they made a good comeback. We made some mistakes on our end and we need to fix that.”
All the players are just happy to be playing, but perhaps Pati more than most. He is just back from injury and really only had been running for two weeks before attending the All American camp.
“This is the first game I’ve played since my injury, and it’s great to be able to put in the minutes,” he said. “Right now we’re looking toward tomorrow. We want to be more consistent – not be so up and down and take care of the little things.”
Olympic Dream
Talk has been rife within the All American camp.
“Everyone is pretty excited about the idea of playing in the Pan-Am games or even the Olympics,” said wing Tim Stanfill. “Mixing with the different athletes at the OTC has been good. We had the USA Developmental women come in, then the volleyball players came in and the BMX guys. It’s great to be a part of it.”
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Written by Alex Goff
Saturday, 27 August 2011 12:35 |
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Quarters Provide Drama at NASC 7s |
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Sevens -
All-Stars
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Two tries from Jared Collinson and a ball-hogging attack plan saw the Northeast, the #4 team from Pool A, defeat the All Americans, the #1 team from Pool B, in the men's 7s National All-Star Championships quarterfinals Saturday at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.  The All Americans managed one try, from Rocco Mauer, right at the end of the match, but lost convincingly 24-7.
The other matches went according to the seedings, but not easily. Southern California needed a Justin Boyd try at the end of the match to edge the Midwest 10-5, while the West held off a determined South squad 17-12 thanks to three Spencer Scott tries. The only game that went heavily to the higher-seeded team was the opening match of Saturday morning, with the Pacific Coast getting all 24 of its points from current or past 7s Eagles. Miles Craigwell, Mike Palefau, Mose Timoteo and Nu'u Punimata scored tries and Timoteo added two conversions for the 24-0 shutout of the Mid-Atlantic. That sets up the following matchups later today:
Noon: Mid-Atlantic v. Midwest Plate SF
12:20pm: Pacific Coast v. SoCal Cup SF
12:40pm: All Americans v. South Plate SF
1pm: West v. Northeast Cup SF
Oddly, it seems as if the crossover playoff matches have reversed themselves. An expected matchup should have had the Pacific Coast playing the West. Regardless, the Northeast, 0-3 in pool play on Friday, has a shot at winning the tournament.
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Written by Jackie Finlan
Friday, 26 August 2011 20:59 |
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USA Dev and Midwest Finish NASC on Wins |
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Sevens -
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Chula Vista, CA - The first day of the Women's National All Star 7s Championship has ended, and the Midwest and USA Developmental squads have reason to be happy. Both ended their days with wins; the USA going undefeated after downing the West 28-5, and the Thunderbirds getting their first victory of the day with a 22-10 against Southern California.
The USA Developmental team proved it was a force to be reckoned with early on, when it beat the Northeast 12-10 in the first round. Kaelene Lundstrum added two tries in the final game, bringing her total to five to tie Katie Dowty and Ida Bernstein. Rebecca Siebach notched another three tries for a total of four tries on the day.
Jen Nelson, who anchored the West today, broke the goose egg with a try.
The Midwest rallied with a win against the Southern California, 22-10. Christy Ringgenberg drove the team, notching two tires, while Jenny Lui and Brittany Bidenberger added five-pointers.
Southern California scored its first points of the day, as Shaina Turley, who is fresh off the Nations Cup, and Tiffany Cunin dotted down.
Here are tomorrow's match-ups:
Pacific Coast v South
West v Midwest
USA Developmental v Southern California
Mid-Atlantic v Northeast
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