The USA Women’s National Team has been training full-time for the previous eight weeks in Glendale, Colo. The assembly also included four mini-camps, which allowed players who were not able to relocate for that amount of time to also integrate. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, the first of two Stars vs. Stripes scrimmages will take place at 2 p.m. Mountain, and the action will be live-streamed and free via FloRugby.com.
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USA prop Nick James captains the Stars while inside center McKenzie Hawkins serves as vice captain. They’re capped 15s Eagles, as are nine other starters. Ilona Maher has heaps of caps with the USA 7s, and was playing center and No. 8 during the last of her 15s days.
But after years at Chula Vista, Maher will be applying some serious power on the wing tomorrow. The second row is uncapped as well. Sam Luther is a well known presence in the (now defunct) Glendale Merlins pack, and Hallie Taufoou was a collegiate back and 7s standout at ARPTC. Cassidy Bargell is the only other uncapped starter, but the Harvard scrumhalf has featured in every stage of the player pathway.
All of the reserves are uncapped. There are two scrumhalves – Shelby Lin and Kelsie O’Brien – looking for time, and Harvard freshman PK Vincze is heading to Colorado from Little Rock, Ark., where she spent fall residency with ARPTC.
STARS ROSTER
- Nick James (c)
- Kathryn Treder
- Hope Rogers-Dellerman
- Sam Luther
- Hallie Taufoou
- Nicole Strasko
- Rachel Johnson
- Katie Johnson
- Cassidy Bargell
- Katana Howard
- Ilona Maher
- McKenzie Hawkins (vc)
- Amy Talei Bonte
- Evan Hoese
- Neariah Persinger
Reserves: 16. Paige Stathopoulos, 17. Allie Schrenker, 18. Lisa Jackson, 19. Erica Jarrell, 20. Darian Lovelace, 21. Shelby Lin, 22. PK Vincze, 23. Kelsie O’Brien
Dartmouth center Emily Henrich captains the Stripes, while Jojo Kitlinski serves as vice captain from hooker. The starting lineup includes five uncapped players, and again, two are found in the second row: Jenny Kronish and Julia Buescher. Uncapped Rachel Ehrecke will reunite with former Penn State teammate Bitsy Cairns in the back row, while uncapped Kristi Kirshe and Jetta Owens will link up in the back three. Kirshe is one of three USA 7s residents representing the Stripes, joining Jordan Matyas at No. 8 and reserve Kayla Lawson.
The Stripes’ bench has more experience, most notably with prop Catie Benson but also in capped scrumhalf Olivia Ortiz. Sam Tancredri and Matalasi Morrissette were part of the most recent USA U20 leadership team and are two of six current collegians with the potential for game time tomorrow.
STRIPES ROSTER
- Maya Learned
- Jojo Kitlinski (vc)
- Charli Jacoby
- Jenny Kronish
- Julia Buescher
- Rachel Ehrecke
- Bitsy Cairns
- Jordan Matyas
- Carly Waters
- Megan Foster
- Sarah Levy
- Emily Henrich (c)
- Bulou Mataitoga
- Kristi Kirshe
- Jetta Owens
Reserves: 16. Jett Hayward, 17. Catie Benson, 18. Sam Tancredi, 19. Evi Ashenbrucker, 20. Olivia Ortiz, 21. Matalasi Morrissette, 22. Kayla Lawson, 23. Nichole Wanamaker