Sara-Grace McCannon scoring at the DII national tournament. /// Photo: Jackie Finlan
So far, 2017 has been a year to remember for North Bay. The Maryland girls’ high school team has won state, regional and national titles, and has not lost any momentum heading into the summer. But those successes have not come easily, and North Bay is one several east coast teams that leave its state in search of competition. As North Bay considers the future, some cooperation between those like-minded clubs could take the team to a new level.
RELATED: All-Stars Outside RCT Circuit • Valerie Connolly Photos: Mid-Atlantic Select Side Tournament • Final HS Standings
“We knew pretty early on [that we’d be good] based on last year’s performance and the experience we had coming back,” North Bay coach Scott Hoffman said of early-season assessments. “At any given point in time last year, we’d have 5-6 freshmen in our first 15.”
The roster settled into the high 30s, enabling an A side for Maryland’s four-team Division 1, and a B side for the state’s three-team Division 2. With the exception of West Carroll in Division 1, there was a competition gap for both North Bay teams, necessitating a presence on the tournament circuit where teams like West End (Va.) and Morris (N.J.) would also compete. The tournaments scratched that competitive itch and got players field time, but they weren’t replacements for full-length 15s games.
During the Maryland regular season, North Bay lost to West Carroll after leading 17-5 at the half.
“We had a couple of injuries but I attribute it more to fitness and that we fizzled out,” Hoffman said. “It falls back to having a meaningful regular season and matrix league. We don’t ever have a full 70 minutes, because we were only playing tournament games with 20-minute halves. The girls weren’t conditioned properly to really complete and finish a full game. … That’s on us as coaches, and we adjusted the workout regimen at practice once we realized it was an issue. Then we were able to finish games.”
The tournaments did build confidence, however, and after going 3-0 at the Northeast Invitational, North Bay defeated West Carroll for the state title.
“That has been our Achilles heel the last few years; we’ll get to the final and lose,” Hoffman said. “To play a full match against West Carroll and go back and forth, down to the wire – it was a very close game – that was an emotional, uplifting win that gave us confidence into nationals. We can compete with other teams.”
North Bay had been to nationals before. In 2014, the team debuted in Division I, and entered and exited as the eighth seed. In 2015, North Bay finished third in DII. In 2016, the national invitational split into separate single-school and club competitions, so when North Bay returned to the DII tournament in 2017, it joined three other high school clubs for a round robin. North Bay defeated KC United 52-7 and Brookfield Bruisers 34-5 on day one, and then lined up against West End, which had held the edge over the Maryland team throughout the spring season.
“I knew if we played our game it would be close, but I wasn’t expecting to have as good of an outcome as we did,” Hoffman said of the 27-12 win. “I had some parents fussing about traveling to Indiana to play West End because we play them all the time, but in reality it was a story-book finish to the season. … There have been challenges this season and to be able to finish off in the fashion we did, I couldn’t have asked for a better ending, especially considering what a formidable opponent West End is.”
But North Bay wasn’t finished. After winning the DII club national invitational in Elkhart, Ind., the players didn’t ease off as all-star and summer 7s approached.
“We have 5-6 girls invited to the Girls’ High School All-American [GHSAA] camps and some play for Atlantis and those things, and so they’re pretty driven in terms of wanting to play rugby at a higher level and be successful,” Hoffman said. “My girls are eager. My core group – I’d say, 18 to 25 players – are pretty committed and have been consistently out to 7s practices and select side practices.”
Photo: Valerie Connolly
That commitment was reflected in the Maryland all-star team that featured at the Mid-Atlantic Select Side Tournament, which is not part of the USA Rugby Regional Cup Tournament circuit (read more). Fourteen of the 20 players hailed from North Bay (two came from West Carroll and four from the Maryland Exiles). The starting 15 included two freshmen, six sophomores, six juniors and one senior – a breakout that Hoffman referenced when criticizing the JV and varsity eligibility requirements imposed by USA Rugby. But it goes a step farther for the coach.
RELATED: Girls’ high school all-star rosters (note that game-day rosters might differ from the player pool established in advance of the tournament)
“It devalues the coaches,” Hoffman said of the grade-based restrictions. “Coaches are certified by USA Rugby, and no one knows these players better than us. If USA Rugby doesn’t have the confidence in us to make the best decisions for our players, then maybe they should retool the certification process.”
Maryland produced two wins at Mount St. Mary’s: a 36-0 victory over Virginia, and then a 22-19 comeback victory against Pennsylvania after trailing 19-5 at the half.
“Penn is loaded with talent,” Hoffman said. “They’re big and physical, and were super powerful in the rucks and blowing us up in the rucks. On attack they seemed to be running at will in the first half.”
Flyhalf Alex Pipkin’s try at the end of the first half sparked some life in the squad, and players like prop Hailey Thomas, flanker Lauren Ferridge (Exiles), center Camille White (West Carroll) and in particular junior No. 8 Sam Tancredi, whom Hoffman nominated as MVP, led the comeback. Second row Sara-Grace McCannon also had a great day and Hoffman has been recommending her for GHSAA consideration.
Photo: Valerie Connolly
North Bay will now focus on summer 7s and welcome players like Ferridge and White, whose home clubs aren’t running summer programs. The team will play at this weekend’s Doylestown tournament in Pennsylvania, then host the Bay Watch 7s, and finish with a trip north to the Blazing 7s in Morristown, N.J. Players will attend Atavus camps and some may feature on the GHSAA team playing the Canada U18s.
Hoffman is already looking ahead to the 2017-18 season, as are other leading teams on the east coast. There have been talks of a fall 7s league, which would be a new thing for Maryland, but not area states like Pennsylvania or New Jersey. And then in the spring, top teams are considering forming a regional league.
“Next year, we’re looking to put together our own regional matrix games between us, Morris, West End and a Pennsylvania team if they want to be involved in a DI league,” Hoffman said. “For us, it was just West Carroll [that pushed us in Maryland], and that was it. There was nothing rigorous. Now we have the chance to earn something inside our region; have a sense of accomplishment.”
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