The Cape Fear 7s traditionally attracts the top teams from various regions, affording a valuable mid-season comparison of teams likely to head to club 7s nationals. Scion’s and American Rugby Pro Training Center’s (ARPTC) first sides advanced to the Women’s Elite championship, and the Sirens won their third-straight title.
All five teams played each other in a round robin on Saturday, and then the top three teams from the Armed Forces Championship – Army, Marines, Air Force – integrated into the knockouts. ARPTC’s two teams eliminated the Marines and Navy in the Cup quarterfinals, but Army nearly advanced to the final after defeating Atlanta 29-0 in the Round of 8 and falling 17-14 to ARPTC 1 in the semifinals. Scion bested NOVA and ARPTC 2 by convincing margins en route to the title match. See full results below.
The scoring didn’t open until the final minutes of the final’s first half. It looked like Scion was about to turn over the scrum at ARPTC’s five meter, but Jesah Haun dug out the ball and timed the pass to Christina Swift on the sideline. The Eagle pool play tore into Scion territory
and drew a penalty. Jess Wooden chipped ahead shortly afterward but Maggie Myles did well to pull in the loose ball. Camille Johnson took the pass, side-stepped the defense and pulled away for a long-range try that Lauren Rhode converted, 7-0.
Shortly after the restart, Myles drew a high tackle penalty and Rhodes went quickly through the mark. The defense was slow to retreat and reset, and so the playmaker popped to her feet and scored the second try, 12-0 as the halftime whistle blew.
Penalties continued to break up play in the second half, but there were still thrilling moments that enlivened the sidelines. Saskia Morgan and Jaz Gray were nicely matched out wide and brought the crowd to its feet. As the game wore down, Gray stepped into the passing lane for an attempted pickoff, but the ball bounced right into Morgan’s hands for the pullaway try through the middle. Rhode added the final conversion for the 19-0 victory.
Both Scion and ARPTC are regulars at the club national 7s championship, and fellow Cape Fear participants NOVA and Atlanta are also have strong histories at the mid-August event. Stay tuned for updates on their respective region’s qualifiers.
CAPE FEAR 7s
WOMEN ELITE
POOL PLAY
Scion 43-0 NOVA
Scion 21-21 ARPTC 2
Scion 17-7 ARPTC 1
Scion 31-0 Atlanta
ARPTC 1 34-5 Atlanta
ARPTC 1 24-0 ARPTC 2 12
ARPTC 1 36-12 NOVA
Atlanta 26-19 ARPTC 2
Atlanta 24-0 NOVA
ARPTC 2 28-7 NOVA
*Top-three Armed Forces team joined the Women’s Elite bracket at the knockout phase
*QUARTERFINALS
Scion 38-7 NOVA
ARPTC 2 27-14 Marines
Army 29-0 Atlanta
ARPTC 1 24-14 Air Force
CUP SEMIFINALS
Scion 35-7 ARPTC 2
ARPTC 1 17-14 Army
5TH PLACE SF
Marines 13-5 NOVA
Atlanta 26-12 Air Force
5th: Marines 14-12 Atlanta
3rd: Army vs. ARPTC 2
Cup Final: Scion 19-0 ARPTC 1