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Club 7s: Round 1

  • 14 Aug 2021
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Tempe’s Chloe Jex moves the ball / Alex Ho photo

Round 1 of the USA Club 7s National Championship has concluded and it’s good to be back. Women’s games are occurring on two fields at Starfire Sports but every team will get at least one game inside the stadium on day one.

There were two single-digit decisions that highlighted round one. Inside the stadium, Pool B’s NOVA took the early lead against Rocky Mountain, as the Colorado side turned over possession with a forward pass, and Emma Auld dove over for the opening points. Auld kicked the extras, too, 7-0. The Magic then entered with back-to-back scores from Sam Sullivan, who took advantage of a not-10 restart, and Rachel Ehrecke, who capitalized on pressure defense and four-straight penalties: 10-7 into the break.

Wing Jo Asumang fended the defense and showed some very nice speed along the sideline to put NOVA back in front with a try, and Auld added the conversion for the 14-10 lead. But again, a not-10 restart hurt NOVA. Hannah Tennant set it up in the middle and some really nice, at-pace hands followed. The ball moved to Jess Dombrowski, who cut back inside for what would be the winning points: 15-14. NOVA had a very good opportunity to score again, gaining a yellow card in attacking territory, but ultimately couldn’t convert.


Rocky Mountain’s Rachel Ehrecke / Photo: Alex Ho

In Pool D, Optimus and Chicago North Shore scored three tries apiece, and early on, it the Atlanta-based side had the early momentum. Gabi Bergamin scored first, and then a kick, Adrionna Duncan chase, and Cyndi Campbell intercept set up Campbell’s try. The captain also kicked a conversion for the 12-0 lead.

Then Chicago North Shore started chipping away. Lauren Trout dotted down right before the break and then the hard-running Kadie Sanford added try number two after the break, 12-10. North Shore then increased its lead after an attacking scrum inside the 10 meter: 15-12.

With little time left, Optimus gained a penalty at mid-field and Corinne Heavner quickly moved the ball out wide. Su Adegoke went for a nice break and gained another penalty in the process. The ball moved to the sideline and Campbell beat the pursuit for the winning try: 17-15.


Campbell scores for Optimus / Photo: Alex Ho

In Pool C, Tempe rallied from a 12-point deficit to beat Boston Belles 29-19. Rachael Harkavy and Jenny Kronish scored the first two tires of the game, and led 12-0 with a Harkavy conversion. Ninjas then answered with four-straight tries, with Taylor Didesch and Laura Kujawski accounting for at least two of those scores.

“Our game’s a little bit different I think in what you’d expect in traditional 7s since we have a lot of strength,” Tempe’s Lindsay Mahoney said. “So we’re really kind of flooding a channel right now, which is working. Our offload game is really strong. So just trying to keep that ball alive and maintain that continuity and score some tries.”

Penalties and open-field tackling issues hurt the Belles, but it was still a game, when the Belles answered with a try off a restart. The Northeast squad was moving fast to try and produce a tying try, but a turnover and return try from Chloe Jex dampened hopes for a comeback.


Tempe eying open space / Photo: Alex Ho

“We’re really excited,” Mahoney added. “We’re kinda on a high right now, because this is our third times at 7s nationals and our first-ever win. We needed that confidence going into a team like ARPTC. They’re going to be a huge challenge but we needed that little wind behind our sails before something like that.

“We’re a new side (playing together) so that’s something we’re just learning about ourselves,” Mahoney said of scoring quickly. “We do a lot of game-space training so being able to replicate game situations throughout the week really helps us figure out, when things get chaotic, how to turn it around.”

ARPTC will plays its first game of the tournament against Tempe. Players like Mahoney and Jex are ARPTC alumnae.

“We’re excited too because we know those girls really well so we’re excited to play them and we know how to play them,” Mahoney said. “We know it’s going to be hard but we know it’s going to be a fun game too.

Pool A saw two shutouts, as Scion defeated ORSU 32-0 and Chicago Lions topped Santa Monica 36-0.

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