Kelsi Stockert scores for Seattle / Photo: Quinn Width
The Rugby Breakdown produces the women’s portion of USA Rugby’s weekly club recaps (below). For the full article, click here.
BC PREMIER (CAN)
The Seattle Saracens opened up the British Columbia Rugby Union (BCRU) Premier season with a 28-10 win against Westshore. The Saracens joined the league in 2014 and Saturday marked the team’s first win against the perennial title contenders.
“We’ve played against Westshore in the final, and have good games and bad games against them,” Seattle co-captain Kristine Sommer reflected on the teams’ history. “I’m not sure if it’s a mental thing, or because we knew they were a really good team, or our game just wasn’t there yet, but we’ve always come up short.”
Seattle had lower numbers in the fall, and there was some uncertainty about how the spring would play out, but trainings and commitment are more robust now. The Saracens came out hard and got a nice boost from Kelsi Stockert, who celebrated her return with two tries on the day, and matched the power of fellow wing Jennine Detiveaux. Leah Ingold had a good day at 10, and the team will miss the Central Washington graduate when she leaves for the Air Force in a month. The forwards had a tough day in muddy conditions, and Sommer praised the resiliency in the pack.
“This was the first game in a while where we dominated the scrum. We walked over a couple of them and it surprised us. I don’t know if were expecting that,” Sommer said. “Jenny Johnson really showed up. She made some key tackles and picked off the base to score a try. Francine [Bray], one of our taller locks, played super well and had some great offloads. People often underestimate how low she gets in the tackle.”
It was a round performance that set a nice tone for the season, and Seattle is hoping that 2020 is the year that a U.S. team wins the BC Premier league.
PACIFIC NORTH: NORCAL
After dropping its league opener 27-20 to Berkeley, Sacramento has responded with back-to-back wins in DII NorCal. On Saturday, the Amazons traveled to San Francisco Golden Gate (SFGG) and put in a dominating 88-10 performance.
The Amazons look very different from the team that won nationals but those shifts are starting to connect and bring that hard-carrying offload game back to life. Sacramento spent a lot of time on attack and that eventually wore out SFGG, which struggled in its tackle completion and success in the scrums. Sacramento also worked different combinations during the game, experimenting with some of the newer players like Talica Vodo, who moved from No. 8 to inside center and paired nicely with former San Jose teammate Miriama Marawa at outside. Meg Slattery, ORSU transfer Makena McCluskey and Sabrina Perez drew high praise from captain Leka Green.
“These players are new so we’re still trying to test where they can shine at,” Sacramento flyhalf Green said. “That’s my mindset as a leader: Test players at different positions. I’ve been playing for so many years, and you know we’re not always going to have the full lineup, someone may get injured. So I like to have a versatile squad if I can.”
Vodo, Marawa, McCluskey, Slattery, Natalie Romero, Liz Danielson, Roxanne Lembke, Francilia Lee-Lo and Caroline Sequeira scored tries, while Sequeira and Danielson added conversions.
In other NorCal news, San Jose forfeited to Life West. This upcoming weekend is a league-wide bye.
PACIFIC SOUTH
Pasadena is the first to two wins in the DII Pacific South, having defeated Las Vegas in round one and then Old Pueblo 24-16 last weekend (read more). The three teams play each other twice during the regular season, and the Royals will spend round two on the road.
“We’ve worked really hard on becoming strong in defense,” said Pasadena assistant coach Greg Smookler, who works alongside head coach Seamus Fahey and assistant coach Arturo Preciado. “OP did a really great job in the breakdown and retaining the ball, so we played most of the game on defense. But we did really well. That says a lot about the team because defense isn’t so glamorous, but everyone showed a lot of commitment to it.”
The Royals also focused on its counterattack, and that efficiency in transition has produced many of the team’s scores. Wing Sonya Livingston scored four minutes in after such an opportunity and Kristine Nakada’s conversion provided an early 7-0 lead. Lightning flyhalf Alex Rath kicked the first of three penalties, but then hooker Molly Shamieh’s try extended Pasadena’s lead to 12-3. Old Pueblo kept working its possession and just before the break added another Rath penalty and Patrocinia Duffy try for the 13-12 edge into the break.
“We talked about turning up the intensity, especially on defense. It’s the standard halftime talk,” Smookler said. “We felt that if we increased our line speed we could again pressure them into turnovers or losing yardage. We also changed our approach to the breakdown because they were winning most of the rucks, so we decided not to compete and get back out into the defensive line.”
No. 8 Celine Deneuve peeled off the back of the scrum to score and Nakada’s conversion gave Pasadena a 19-13 lead. Flyhalf Angelica Ramos added a fourth try for the bonus point, and Rath ended the game with a final penalty: 24-16 the final.
There’s a league-wide bye this week and then Pasadena travels to Las Vegas on Feb. 22. Old Pueblo won’t play another league game until March 7.
In Division III, San Fernando Valley defeated Riverside 44-12. The newcomers scored first for a 7-0 lead, and then San Fernando Valley rallied with eight-straight tries through Korinna Fite (3), Michelle Chan (2), Monique Harris, Hosna Qasmei and Kimberlin Sanchez. Fite and Gabrielle Tysa added conversions.
This weekend, Fullerton is due to travel to San Fernando Valley, while Northern Arizona is scheduled for a road trip to Riverside.
RED RIVER
Austin and San Antonio improved to 4-1 in the DII Red River, but they had very different experiences last Saturday.
LeAnne Hudson and Veronica Hill scored tries for Dallas, and Kathleen Clement’s two conversions provided a 14-0 first-half lead against Austin. The Valkyries regrouped at the break and put in a more comprehensive performance in the second half. Julia Fortkort (2), Amethyst Gamez and Kristina Koufous scored tries for Austin, while flyhalf Zoe Hunter kicked three conversions. The defense rallied for a second-half shutout and 26-14 win.
San Antonio defeated McAllen 125-0. Fullback Christine Krieger led all point-scorers with 35 on 15 conversions and a try. Halie Green (4), Toni Armstrong (3), Antea Dedic (3), Lauren Elliott, Misty Dunn, Sarie Harris, Mextli Jimenez-Colores, Aida Gutierrez, Keeley Coker and Liza Tarleton scored tries.
This weekend, Bay Area travels to McAllen and Little Rock heads to Austin.
SOUTH: FLORIDA
Tampa Bay picked up its third win – 57-7 against Jacksonville (1-1-1) – of the DII Florida season and leads the league. Through 65 minutes, the Krewe put Tiffeny Wysocki, Jessie Premet, Ruth Black (2), Sam Black (2), Victoria Jarrett, Amy Rogan and Latrisha Jarrett away for tries, while Robyn Oliveri and Jesse DePaolo kicked the extras. The Sinners broke the shutout in the 76th minute.
After trading tries in the first 15 minutes, Indian River surged ahead of Fort Miami: 24-14 with 10 minutes to go in the half. Fort Miami answered through the middle of the match, and the teams remained within a point of each other, 33-32, as the final whistle approached. Virginia Perez and Morgan Brown both scored their second tries of the match during the final five minutes, affording Fort Miami the 45-32 win. Sydnee Meriwether, Brie Cokos and Hileia Freybe also added tries, and Madison Militello kicked five conversions.
This weekend, Tampa Bay will travel to Orlando, and Jacksonville heads to Fort Miami.