(top, l-r) Peterson, Jansky-Bingel, Bray, Barber, Sanders, Duncan.
(bottom) Birgisdottir, Garrett, Kitsch, Legaspi, MacKinnon, Fuller. / Photo: Atavus Rugby
Atavus Seattle won the USA Rugby Women’s Club 7s National Championship, now dubbed the Emil Signes Cup, with a final 26-14 win over San Diego. Megan Sanders was named MVP, an accolade presented by USA Women’s 7s coach Richie Walker. Atavus Seattle is now one of five teams to hold the national 7s title.
RELATED: Pool A Preview • Pool B Preview • Pool C Preview • Pool D Preview • Teams’ Nationals Rosters
Atavus Seattle went 6-0 during the two-day tournament, but the competition was anything but easy. After comfortable wins against Minneapolis and Orlando to kick off pool play, the next four games were decided by single digits. Atavus defeated NOVA 21-17 at the end of the day Saturday, ARPTC 21-12 in the Cup quarterfinals, and then produced a thrilling 19-14 semifinal win over Life West. The Gladiatrix led that match until the final 30 seconds of play, when a penalty in its own end allowed Atavus’ Jennine Duncan, a powerful finisher, to score around the corner.
San Diego followed a similar route. After shutting out the Atlanta Harlequins, the Surfers defeated Beantown, ARPTC, NOVA and Scion by single digits. Notable performances came from Megan Foster, Tia Blythe, Josie Ziluca and Kelsi Stockert, who featured on the scoreboard but also set the tone for perpetually contested breakdowns and memorable fends.
The Surfers held onto the first minute of possession in the final, building nicely into Atavus’ end. But when the ball turned over, Chelsey Birgisdottir negated all those meters with a long break. A penalty ensued and the ball worked to Duncan for the try. Anne Peterson’s conversion made it 7-0 to the Seattle squad.
Atavus looked to score again as Sanders peeled off a midfield scrum, committed the defense and set up flyer Erica Legaspi, a former 200m sprinter, for a sideline break. Great cover defense from Foster snuffed out the scoring opportunity, but Legaspi reiterated herself as a breakaway threat.
The next big break came from Ziluca, and she got her side attacking in Atavus’ end. Support was quick and the co-captain got the pass off to Teigan MacDonald, who found Stockert in space. It was then a USA 7s Eagle showdown in the open field, as Stockert faced Sanders at sweeper. Stockert won that collision and scored the try. Foster converted for the 7-7 scoreline, which carried into halftime.
The team with coaches Emillie Bydwell and Michaela Staniford / Photo: Carly MacKinnon
The try-trading continued into the second half, and this time, Legaspi had the gas to leg out a try. She took the corner around former Budd Bay teammate Stockert and then cut back across Foster to score. Peterson converted for the 14-7 lead.
San Diego got its final try after Foster broke through the line. Duncan chased the Eagle flyhalf down, but grabbed her around the shoulders. The yellow-card offense also drew a penalty try worth seven points, 14-14.
The Surfers weren’t able to capitalize on the two-minute player advantage, and instead, Atavus ran in two more tries. An attacking campaign ended in Birgisdottir’s hands approximately 10 meters from the try line. She held Ziluca until the last moment and then hit Lauren Barber coasting down the sideline unguarded for the try. Peterson nailed a stellar conversion from the touchline. Padding the point differential, Atavus moved a scrum ball to Duncan, who had too much pace for MacDonald and scored around the corner, 26-14 the final.
There were so many good games over the weekend. The entire quarterfinal round was tense, and the third-place match between Life West and Scion was brutal. The two had met during pool play, and Scion won that battle 21-10. The rematch was fiery and a little chippy, and the decider came down to a first-half try from Life West’s Emily Roskopf, 5-0 for the win. With Atavus Seattle finishing first and Life West third, the Pacific North has made a strong case for three regional seeds in 2018 (Mid-Atlantic had three seeds this year and finished 4th, 8th and 15th).
New York was one of three teams to go 5-1 on the weekend, and ended with a 19-12 win over ARPTC for the Plate. Responsible for one of the big upsets of the tournament, the Glendale Merlins, also 5-1, defeated Scion 10-5 during pool play. Day one ended with three 2-1 teams in that pool, and Scion and Life West advanced to the Cup quarterfinals on point differential. Glendale made the best of it and won the Bowl by defeating Philadelphia, Beantown and Orlando in the final.
There were many standout individual performances, and we’re eager to see if this competition has produced more players of interest for the USA Women’s 7s player pool. Stay tuned.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Atavus Seattle (6-0) / Pacific North
2. San Diego Surfers (5-1) / Pacific South
3. Life West (4-2) / Pacific North
4. Scion Rugby Academy (3-3) / Mid-Atlantic
5. New York (5-1) / Atlantic North
6. ARPTC (3-3) / Red River
7. Chicago Lions (3-3) / Midwest
8. NOVA (2-4) / Mid-Atlantic
9. Glendale (5-1) / Frontier
10. Orlando (2-4) / South
11. Beantown (2-4) / Atlantic North
12. Austin (2-4) / Red River
13. Minneapolis (3-3) / Midwest
14. Atlanta (2-4) / South
15. Philadelphia (1-5) / Mid-Atlantic
16. Tempe (0-6) / Pacific South