Life University Athletics photo
Life University enjoyed a busy, fruitful February, and the DI Elite side played a nice mix of competition to ready itself for the short, intense post-season. The four DI Elite teams will report to St. Mary’s College (Moraga, Calif.) on April 11 for the national semifinals, and then the victors will head to Ohio on April 25 for the national championship.
“They’re gelling. We’re seeing a vast improvement in their chemistry – especially the forwards, who are younger this year,” Life University head coach Ros Chou said. “We struggled in the fall even just with set piece. In our [Oct. 13] game against Lindenwood, we only won one of our lineouts and lost several of our own scrums with just brand new forwards, and now we’re seeing a lot more success being able to retain possession. It’s taken this long to really get them the confidence and skill level up.”
Life had a very strong pack last year and so this reboot was expected.
Karen Faget & Megan Rom @ 2019 DI Elite final / PC: Jackie Finlan
“I had 16 seniors last year so we didn’t have to spend time at practice [explaining], ‘This is the structure; this is what you do,’’’ Chou said. “So we did have to really dial that back and really let everyone know where they’re supposed to be and when, just to relieve some of the anxiety of already being on a big stage right out of high school.”
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Fortunately, the team has Haley Langan as forwards captain and the newcomers to the pack are quality. Sophomore Saher Hamdan transferred from Notre Dame College and punches up the forwards game. Central Washington University alumna Hannah Fallon-Suka relocated to Life for grad school and has taken up No. 8 next to younger sister and flanker Paige. Freshman Kayla Pemasa hails from Kahului in Maui, Hawaii, and is already building buzz.
“She caught Rob’s eye in the first game that he saw her in,” Chou said of USA Women’s National Team head coach Rob Cain. “She’s a prop and can carry the ball hard, but she can also pass, and she’s so quick that our 7 and some of our wings have trouble catching her. She’s a great ballcarrier and definitely one to keep an eye out for.”
Sedrick for the USA Falcons / PC: Jackie Finlan
Where the pack is young, the back line is very experienced. Alex Sedrick is the captain and spent the week with the USA Falcons in preparation for the LAI 7s. Sedrick injected great speed, chased down breakaways and scored tries, including one in the Women Elite final against the Stars inside Dignity Health stadium. Cynthia Kelly and Sydnee Cervinski are also hubs of experience, and January addition Adriana Mendoza Silva, who has been playing in the WPL with ORSU and represented Mexico in the Rugby World Cup Sevens, has made an immediate impact.
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“While we’re really young, it’s just so exciting for the future because we have so much talent coming our way,” Chou said. “The fact that our back three is all sophomores, it kind of scares me what they’re going to look like when they’re seniors, with Susie Adegoke, Autumn Locicero and Adrionna Duncan.”
Chou was in Los Angeles watching a handful of fall 2020 incoming freshmen, including Atlantis’ Alex Wantlin, who will fit nicely into the Running Eagles’ back attack; as well as Amaya Moala, Klarice Sakamoto-Wolfgramm and Mercie Vivao of Carson/South Bay, which won the U18 Elite title.
Future Life freshman Amaya Moala scored in the LAI 7s U18 Elite final / PC: Jackie Finlan
Chou and staff got good looks at 40 players during the mid-February triple-header in Washington, D.C. The Running Eagles built some depth in the bench during shortened games and wins against the USA South (21-17), Old Glory Selects (35-5) and Penn State (28-12).
“The biggest issue was the two different pitches,” Chou said of obstacles that weekend. “The first was only 50 meters wide, so it was: How does a fast, small, skilled team deal with a very small, narrow space? That was the biggest challenge for us. We knew that the physicality was going to be there but it took us a really long time in the first game to adjust to something so narrow. And they eventually did and went ahead four tries, so I was really happy with that.”
That tour provided a lot of information and work-ons, and Life tested itself the following weekend with two games against the University of Central Florida. Once again, the ability to adapt to different circumstances impacted play.
“We’re used to the refs in our area and it was just a little bit different in Florida. We had 14 penalties I think in the first half and a yellow card,” Chou said. “The point differential in the first half was pretty tight against UCF, and it was us not adjusting quick enough in that amount of time. In the second half it was, ‘OK, we get it now, this is how we’re going to play,’ and we were able to break the game open.”
Life University Athletics photo
Life won 55-5 and 79-0 and overall Chou was pleased with the team’s ability to improve on its performance from the weekend prior.
“What we really needed to see was some precision in our skills — not only in the open field with passes being out in front and no back shoulder passes, but we struggled in the breakdown against Penn State,” Chou said. “They’re just so good at counter-rucking that we weren’t securing our ball enough. UCF is also very physical so we spent all week preparing for that and in the two games only turned two breakdowns over instead of three we had in the shortened 50-minute game against Penn State, so I was pretty happy with that.”
Life then played its third senior club team this month, traveling to Austin to face the 2019 DI National Championship finalist.
“We want to be against as many women’s club teams as possible to get that physical challenge because we know it’s going to be like that if we play any of the DI Elite teams,” Chou said.
The Running Eagles extended their 2020 winning streak and beat the Valkyries 35-7. Life’s first side will also play the Atlanta Harlequins and Raleigh Venom before the DI Elite playoffs. Details for the national playoffs have not been released, but the following results will be used to seed the April 11 semifinals in Moraga, Calif.:
Sept 28 – Life 44-12 Penn State
Oct 13 – Lindenwood 41-5 Life
Oct 26 – Lindenwood 104-0 Penn State
Nov 2 – Life 46-32 Central Washington (@ Glendale)
Feb 16 – Life 28-12 Penn State
Feb 22 – Lindenwood 53-29 Central Washington