Berkeley’s Bulou Mataitoga
The Los Angeles Invitational (LAI) 7s begin this Friday, Feb. 28 and will name seven girls’ and women’s champions by midday Saturday, Feb. 29. Friday games occur at Orange County Great Park, and Saturday’s games occur the Dignity Health Sports Park field complex adjacent to the stadium. The following is a brief description (and link to a composite schedule) of the girls’ and women’s divisions.
RELATED: Link to composite schedule
WOMEN ELITE (6)
The six teams aren’t divided into pools and each team plays three games Friday. The top two teams advance directly to Saturday’s semifinals, while the bottom four teams contest semifinal play-in matches on Friday. The play-in victors advance to the Cup semifinals, while the two losers contest 5th place on Saturday. The Cup Final will be played inside Dignity Health Sports Park at 5:45 p.m.
WOMEN OPEN (9)
This competition had a late drop, and so Belmont Shore, Guelph University and Ruck Til You Scrum will have byes Friday. The rest of the field gets three games and then reseeded. The top-two teams advance directly to the Cup semifinals; meanwhile, teams ranked #3-6 contest Cup semifinal play-ins on Friday, and teams 7-9 contest Plate semifinals (again, since the 10th team dropped, one team will be left without a game). On Saturday, the play-in victors play the top-two teams in the Cup semifinals, and the rest of the field plays to place. The final is at 11:20 a.m. at Victoria Park, which is down the street from the stadium.
COLLEGE (16)
There are 16 teams in four pools of four, and everyone plays three pool games on fields 22 and 23. Then the field is divided into Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield brackets, and semifinals close out Friday play. Everyone gets one more game on Saturday and they’re all for place.
U18 ELITE (4)
Round robin on Friday, and then two more games for each team on Saturday: Cup semifinals, 3rd place and Cup final.
HS OPEN (24)
There are six pools of four teams, and everyone plays three pool play games on field 16 or 18. Teams are then reseeded and divided into Cup (1-8), Plate (9-16) and Bowl (17-24) quarterfinals, which end Friday play. On Saturday, the quarterfinal losers in all three brackets will play a consolation match, while the victors move onto semifinals. The field won’t play out to place, but the Cup final determines 1st, Plate final is 9th, and Bowl final 17th.
U16 (10)
The 10 teams play three games apiece on field 7, and then the field is re-seeded, with the top-two teams advancing directly to the Cup semifinals on Saturday. Teams ranked 3-6 contest Cup semifinal play-ins, while 7-10 contest Plate semifinals. The Cup semifinals kick off Saturday, and then the rest of the field plays to place (currently there is no 3rd place game scheduled). The final is at noon on Field 5.
U14 (4)
Four teams play round robin Friday, with semifinals, 3rd and final on Saturday.