Photo courtesy Beantown RFC
Last year it was Old Blue and Boston representing the Atlantic North at the Women’s Club 7s National Championship, and in 2017 it will be New York and Beantown. Atlantic North champion New York will take the second seed overall into Pool B, while runner-up Beantown will compete in Pool C as the 14th overall seed. The national tournament will occur Aug. 12-13 in Minneapolis.
RELATED: New York Leading Empire 7s • USA Rugby Club 7s National Championship • Atlantic North 7s Championship
The Empire GU contests Upstate and Downstate 7s series that feed into a GU championship (July 22), which doesn’t occur until AFTER the Atlantic North championship. The Upstate bracket did not send any representatives to Saturday’s regional tournament, and New York, undefeated in the Downstate series, took the top seed from the GU. Old Blue’s two teams and the Village Lions also represented Empire.
Lisa Roselin resumed her captainship and led a team of familiar names, ranging from seniors like Evi Ashenbrucker and Justina DeBruzzi, to collegians like Shamira Robles, and recent high school graduate Malery Billingly.
New York shut out Saturday’s pool competition, defeating Beantown 2 52-0, Village Lions 43-0 and Providence 33-0. The team then knocked out 2016 national finalist Old Blue 17-12 in a physical semifinal, and Beantown 33-12 in the Atlantic North championship. As the top team in the northeast region, New York will join Red River runner-up Austin Valkyries, the Midwest champion (decided July 29) and Mid-Atlantic’s third-place team (decided July 22) at nationals. If those to-be-determined slots were based on today’s standings, then the Chicago Lions and Philadelphia would round out Pool B.
Photo courtesy New York Rugby Club
New York’s second team was also in motion Saturday and won the fourth Empire series tournament – New Haven 7s – to keep the club atop the GU’s Downstate table.
Atlantic North runner-up Beantown has replaced Boston as the New England (NERFU) rep at nationals. Led by 7s coach Tara Roberts, Beantown is drawing 50-60 players to practice and has entered four teams at every tournament. Senior 15s players account for approximately one-third of the roster while collegians from schools like Harvard, Norwich, Northeastern, Boston College, Stonehill and Lindenwood comprise the majority.
Claire Stingley captains the squad and is one of several senior 15s players making an impact on the top side.
“She brings great work rate and physicality, and leads by example in terms of attitude and commitment,” Roberts praised the skipper. “Morgan Roberts and Kat Phelan, also Town 15s and Northeast Academy players, have been tireless with work rate and are keystone players week to week.”
Harvard’s Caitlin Weigel, a Women’s Junior All-American, is a well rounded, energetic addition to watch on the national stage.
“Miranda Wakimoto has also been huge for us,” the coach added. “She is a 15s player and Northeast Academy player, and has now made a return to the NERFU 7s circuit. Fast and mercurial, she’s also made a big impact for us.”
Photo courtesy Beantown RFC
But Roberts asserted that it’s been a full-team effort this competitive summer 7s season.
“Competition this summer has been tight, with the three NERFU teams competing for [nationals] seeds and giving formidable performances week to week,” Roberts reflected on the New England qualifiers. “We saw a week where we lost to Boston but beat Providence in pool play, then we saw a week where we beat Boston but lost to Providence. Outside of the first qualifying tournament, scores between ourselves and these teams came down to the difference of a try or even a conversion. It has been great competition.”
Beantown was eager to test itself against its Empire counterparts and exited pool play with two wins against Old Blue (Old Blue and Beantown entered two teams into the eight-team Atlantic North championship) and tie against Boston. Old Blue’s pool play win over Boston sent the 7s-only team into the semifinals, where it dropped a physical 17-12 match to New York, the eventual champion. Beantown bested the Village Lions 21-12 in its semifinal before dropping a 21-point contest to New York in the title match.
“The level of intensity and athleticism in the women’s championship bracket this year was remarkable,” Roberts noted.
“As far as refining for nationals goes, an easy one for us that will go a long way is fitness,” the coach looked ahead to a month of preparation. “As far as our game plan goes, it’s made big dividends for us, so we will keep getting it down pat.”
Beantown will compete in Pool C alongside Red River champion American Rugby Pro Training Center, Pacific South champion San Diego Surfers, and South runner-up (determined July 22).
In other women’s club 7s news from last weekend:
• The Chicago Lions won its third-straight Midwest qualifier at the Legacy 7s, earning the region’s “Golden Ticket,” i.e., top seed to nationals. The Midwest championship on July 29 will be used to determine the second seed to nationals.
• The third Mid-Atlantic qualifier in Wilmington, Del., produced identical final standings to the prior tournaments this summer: 1. Scion, 2. NOVA, 3. Philadelphia, 4. D.C. Furies. The region receives three spots in the national championship, and those reps will be solidified July 22.
• The San Diego Surfers repeat as the Pacific South champion after winning the Sunsplash 7s; more to come from coach Liz Strohecker