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Written by Alex Goff
Saturday, 04 June 2011 18:34 |
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Dartmouth Class of Pool B |
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Sevens -
Collegiate Sevens
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 Surprises and almost surprises characterized Pool B in the USA 7s Collegiate Rugby Championship.
Dartmouth overcame a deficit and plenty of fan doubt to shock defending champs Utah 17-12 in the first game, and that game seemed to inspire almost every match to be a tight one.
Notre Dame showed all kinds of fight in their games, combining skill and a desire to tough it out despite the odds. They shut out Boston College, then almost came back against Dartmouth (down 17-0 they led 19-17 before giving up the winning try), and then surged to mount a too-late comeback against Utah (down 21-0 they eventually fell 21-17).
Notre Dame and Dartmouth were very similar, in that they combined some careful skill and physicality, and the Irish produced against Utah perhaps the try of the tournament, involving a poach, a kick across field, and then three more passes for the try.
But no one wanted to forget Utah. They lost their opener, but didn’t let it dampen their enthusiasm, and with Don Pati and Tonata Lauti providing the sizzle and Zach Taylor and Scott Metcalf providing the steak, they slammed BC and, as mentioned, held off Notre Dame.
It wasn’t always pretty, but it was enough. And for Dartmouth, the good moments were supremely good. Head Coach Alex Magleby said he just wanted more.
“We felt we put in a better performance against BC,” said Nick Downer. “BC is a good team and we started to play better, a more team game. “
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Pool B
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W
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L
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T
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Pf
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Pa
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Pd
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Pts
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Dartmouth
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3
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0
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0
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77
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31
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46
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9
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Utah
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2
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1
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0
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50
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39
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11
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7
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Notre Dame
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1
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2
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0
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67
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45
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22
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5
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Boston College
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0
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3
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0
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5
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84
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-79
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3
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Written by Pat Clifton
Saturday, 04 June 2011 17:42 |
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Hot Start Sees New Orleans Past Fresno |
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Clubs -
Men's DII Clubs
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 New Orleans screamed out to an early lead on Fresno in the DII Men’s Club National Semifinal Saturday at Infinity Park, and held on in the second half to win 38-17.
“We just moved the ball pretty quick and recycled pretty well,” said NOLA captain Joel Mclain. “We came out, got here Friday, had a good training session, all the boys were pretty focused, and we just knew what we needed to do to get to the next game.”
NOLA’s first score came in the game’s first minute when right wing Alex Philpott touched down after Fresno failed to secure the opening kick.
Almost exactly a minute later, New Orleans scored again, at this point averaging over a try a minute. No. 8 Jarrett Falcon scored this time.
NOLA was the bigger team, with a tight five that dwarfed Fresno, which has typically favored a 10-man game. NOLA’s big pack was able to disrupt Fresno at the break down and gash the gainline, creating gaping holes for their backs.
That’s exactly what led to New Orleans notching the next two scores, Mauricio Urrutia penalties, resulting from a desperate Fresno at the breakdown. Between penalties, Fresno had a shot at goal, but Adam Wells’ shot at posts sailed wide left.
Fresno inside center Pete Hingano had a huge line break between those kicks as well, but he didn’t have support, and it was NOLA’s counter attack that drew a penalty.
New Orleans’ defense, both in the pack and the backs, had Fresno under tremendous pressure all day, and on NOLA’s next scoring occasion, that pressure forced a panicked kick from Malei Pounono that landed directly in the hands of an uncovered and charging Urrutia on the wing, who raced it uncontested, and converted, to put NOLA up 27-0.
In the tail end of the first half, Fresno finally got its game plan in motion, using slow ball for upwards 10 phases to pound over a try in the 39th minute. Wing John Richards touched it down, but the score was set up by another Hingano break.
New Orleans scored just 12 points in the second half, but used its boot to conserve energy and control territory.
“I think we won the kicking game today, and that’s always important,” said NOLA coach Jerry Malina. “I told the guys this turf field is hot out there, and a good tactical kicking game can save your legs a little bit, compared to taking 10 phases to get 50 yards, and we won the kicking battle and that helped us today.”
Though Fresno put up 13 points after intermission, winning the second half, NOLA’s first half blitz and methodical play in the latter stanza was more than enough for the win, setting up a rematch of the South final in the stadium Sunday for the DII National Title. Krewe won the first encounter 38-17.
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Written by Will Dietrich-Egensteiner
Saturday, 04 June 2011 17:57 |
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Cal, Penn State Earn Top Spots in CRC Pool A |
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Sevens -
Collegiate Sevens
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Pool A of the 2011 Collegiate Rugby Championship saw Cal and Penn State take the first two spots at 3-0 and 2-1 respectively while LSU and Ohio State slumped to the last two spots. LSU managed a 1-2 record and Ohio State went 0-for-3. 
| Cal's Blaine Scully stretches for the try against LSU. (Marvin Dangerfield)
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| Ohio State's Chad Cochran stiff arms a Penn State defender.
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Cal could not be stopped as they only allowed one try to be scored against them in all three matches combined. Penn State put up the best fight and battled to a 26-7 loss. They did the best in matching Cal’s physicality and discipline in the first half. But as Cal will do, they put the game out of reach in the second half. They chased and contested on their own kickoffs and that won them a lot of possession, even granting them a try when Blaine Scully chased down a kick and slipped past two defenders for a try. Cal’s earlier victories against Ohio State, 38-0, and LSU, 24-0, cemented their spot at the top.
Penn State showed that their preparation in the Subaru 7s and other competitions has done them well in their opening two wins. They edged LSU in the first round, 14-12, before going up against rivals Ohio State. Ohio State held a 10-point lead at halftime, but Penn State came back with a converted try. The Nittany Lions’ Ben Jannsen then dove over in the right corner on the next possession to snatch the win away from Ohio State right at the fulltime whistle.
“It feels great and it puts us into the cup playoffs,” Janssen said. “It was a team effort I was just the guy on the spot. We play as a team and we won as a team.”
LSU and Ohio State competed in the last Pool A match of the day and the Tigers showed great resilience to beat the Buckeyes, 10-7. Nate Ebner was a standout for Ohio State but it seemed like they relied on him too much at times. LSU grabbed two unconverted tries while Ohio State could only manage one converted score, even thought they showed glimpses of good handling. They can do better in the Challenger quarterfinals on Sunday if they use space more wisely and utilize their whole team on offense.
Cal and Penn State play in the championship quarterfinals tomorrow at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. Cal starts at 10:19 a.m. against the second seed from Pool B and Penn State faces the top Pool B seed at 10:41 a.m.
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Saturday, 04 June 2011 17:36 |
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Army Undefeated at CRC Day One |
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Sevens -
Collegiate Sevens
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 Army made it to 3-0 in Pool Play at the USA 7s CRC in Chester, Pa. Saturday after edging longtime rivals Navy.
After brief pressure by Army, Navy got very close to scoring, but the final offload was a touch forward. Relieved, Army won the scrum and took it all the way back, with Dave Geib taking a smart inside pass from Ben Leatigaga to score under the posts. Geib converted for a 7-0 lead.
Army scored again from a scrum, although this time a Navy scrum. The Army restart was knocked on, but while Navy won the scrum, West Point was quick on the ball and turned it over. Quick passing sent Leatigaga free to score in the corner.
Navy then mounted a comeback. Winless on Saturday, they pushed to defeat their rivals, and started with Matt Arnsberger powering through three defenders to score. 12-5.
By halftime it was 12-10. Navy got a penalty close in and Seamus Siefring tapped and barged over for the try.
Siefring kept up the punishing runs and scored again to put Navy in the lead. However, Navy’s inability to convert those tries hurt them.
With time winding down a late turnover put the ball in Geib’s hands and the flyhalf was gone for the winner.
For Army, it capped off an outstanding day, with two close wins, but wins nonetheless. For a team that went through the 2011 CRC with two ties and two close losses, this felt a lot better.
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