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Sam Pankey, also very influential during Scion’s title-winning weekend. /// Photo: Carisa Weaver •
Scion is the new Women’s Club 7s National Champion, defeating Old Blue 38-0 at Dick’s Sporting Good Park in Commerce City, Colo., today. A relentless defense helped produced a 6-0 weekend and saw the D.C.-based team outscore opponents 184-26.
Saskia Morgan was named MVP of the championship, and the wing was influential on both sides of the scoreboard this weekend. The 15s Eagle wing showcased her sheer finishing speed for several tries and try-saving tackles, and she backed that pace with good physicality. When Scion unseated 2015 champ American Rugby Pro Training Center (ARPTC) in the semis, Morgan did an excellent job of holding up the powerful Ashley Perry at the tryline and bundling her into touch to end the half and scoring threat. In the final, most memorably, Morgan chased down the slippery Danielle Walko-Siua for what was nearly a try when Old Blue needed it most. Instead, the Scion scrum eventually moved to Morgan for the first of her two tries in the final.
Morgan had a lot of help around her. Sam Pankey (pictured) was equally influential over the weekend, and scored several games’ first tries. That’s no coincidence, as aggression marks the Eagle hooker. On offense, she was very good at sneaking back inside her defender, and on defense, she led a launch that was backed by solid tackling. Sara Parsons and Abby Gustaitis, too, were very good at disrupting ball and moving confidently into space for fends and offloads.
The final was Scion at its best, despite a yellow card, and saw two tries each from Morgan and Pankey; a try from Stacey Bridges, who tore down the sideline and then dummied around sweeper; and an intercept try from Emily Fulbrook, who converted her own score, to end the game. Kimber Rozier tacked on the rest of the extras for the 38-0 win. All told, Scion was a good mix of big, strong forwards who could move through traffic, excellent playmakers and finishing speed.
The Cup semifinals were more competitive. Scion took a 5-0 halftime lead on ARPTC thanks to a stolen scrum and Pankey’s dummy-switch try, and then extended to 12-0 in the second half with a Gustaitis score. Bria Bohanon finished off some nice hands close to the tryline, and Jess Wooden made the sideline conversion for the 12-7 scoreline. Play started to get scrappy as the teams pushed their own agendas, but the Little Rock team ran out of time. ARPTC went on to win third place with a 24-0 victory over ORSU.
In the other semifinal, Old Blue sent Walko-Siua across for two tries, and then ORSU answered with Rachel Johnson and Claire Lundy scores. Molly Luft, who is the essence of never-say-die, added the conversion for the 12-10 lead. Old Blue stole the final’s berth when Kate Daley spied open space in front of Kaitlyn Broughton, and smartly skipped the ball wide to the finisher. The Life University flyer took the ball down the sideline for the 17-12 win.
In other news, San Diego outlasted NOVA 12-5 for the Plate; the Youngbloodz beat Glendale by a conversion, 14-12, for the Bowl; and the Chicago Griffins blanked Boston 10-0 for the Shield. See below for full scores.
CLUB 7s CHAMPIONSHIPCUP Final: Scion 38-0 Old Blue 3rd Place: ARPTC 24-0 ORSUSF: Scion 12-7 ARPTC SF: Old Blue 17-12 ORSU
QF: Scion 45-0 Berkeley QF: ARPTC 33-0 NOVAQF: ORSU 15-12 San DiegoQF: Old Blue 21-14 Seattle
PLATEFinal: San Diego 12-5 NOVA 7th Place: Seattle 19-12 Berkeley SF: NOVA 22-7 Berkeley SF: San Diego 19-7 Seattle
BOWLFinal: Youngbloodz 14-12 Glendale11th Place: Orlando 14-0 Phoenix SF: Youngbloodz 24-5 Orlando SF: Glendale 17-7 Phoenix
QF: Orlando 14-5 Austin QF: Glendale 29-10 TempeQF: Phoenix 12-5 Boston QF: Youngbloodz 22-17 Chicago Griffins
SHIELDFinal: Chicago Griffins 10-0 Boston SF: Chicago Griffins 17-10 Austin SF: Boston 28-7 Tempe
POOL PLAY
Pool AARPTC 45-0 Phoenix ARPTC 38-7 Old Blue ARPTC 26-10 Youngbloodz Old Blue 19-17 Youngbloodz Old Blue 33-0 Phoenix Youngbloodz 29-12 Phoenix
Pool BSeattle 45-7 Boston Seattle 40-0 NOVASeattle 17-7 Chicago Griffins NOVA 14-12 Chicago Griffins NOVA 14-12 Boston Boston 17-15 Chicago Griffins
Pool CSan Diego 38-5 Austin San Diego 26-7 Glendale San Diego 31-5 Berkeley Berkeley 22-5 Glendale Berkeley 24-7 Austin Glendale 15-7 Austin
Pool DScion 41-0 TempeScion 26-0 OrlandoScion 22-19 ORSU ORSU 17-7 OrlandoORSU 38-5 Tempe Orlando 34-12 Tempe
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