West Coast 7s Action Heats Up

Pool Play—Saracen Domination

Coming off of their Division One 15s Championship, the Seattle Saracens looked like the team to beat at the Roy Lucas 7s in Portland, Oregon. Saracens dominated pool play, outscoring Portland, Tacoma and one of two San Diego Surfers team 151-10.

Megan Sanders played powerful, physical rugby for the Saracens while Anne Peterson created outstanding opportunities for her Saracens teammates.
In the opposite pool ORSU opened things up with a victory over a small but loaded San Diego side 17-5. After that, both sides moved comfortably to the semi finals with victories over the Mudhens and Oregon State University, the lone collegiate side in the tournament

Semifinals—Frustrating Defeats & Nervous Victories
The semifinals were the closest matches of the tournament with San Diego breaking the hearts of Saracens 17-15 while the other Surfer side controlled and led the match against ORSU for the bulk of the game. ORSU thought they tied the game, but Krystal Franklin was ruled out the back of the try zone, resulting in a 22-meter restart. With no time left on the clock, Anna Symonds smashed her way through the San Diego defense and scampered forty-meters for a game-tying try. Beckett Royce slotted the conversion to put ORSU through to the final 12-10.

Final—ORSU and San Juanita Moreno Exclamation Mark
San Diego opened the final less than a minute in, sending Amy Naber away, and with the Lockwood conversion, the Surfers were up 7-0.

San Juanita Moreno answered for ORSU to close the gap 5-7, and that’s where the first half ended.
Moreno used a fend and then was off to the races to open the second half, scoring from sixty meters out to give ORSU their first lead 10-7. Anna Symonds added a try to push it to 15-7 to ORSU.

Josie Ziluca went through a gap, and then turned the sweeper inside out, going untouched into the try zone. The Lockwood conversion pulled the Surfers with a single point at 14-15, a more emblematic score than the actual final.

With a full San Diego roster, the result might have been dramatically different, but with four extra players, ORSU was able to pour it on late, scoring three tries in the final four minutes. San Juanito Moreno scored her hat trick and was the most dominant player of the tournament.

The Rest of the Summer
Both San Diego and ORSU rosters contained many familiar faces, but a handful of newcomers will clearly make a huge difference for both sides this summer. Phaidra Knight and Lauren Rhode have joined the Surfers while Jess Shipley adds needed experience, skill and communication to a ORSU side that had five players on their 7s debut including Naomi Aau who was exceptional throughout the tournament despite never having competed above high school level.

ORSU clearly lacks true pace, but plays an aggressive, physical style with Beckett Royce creating mismatches. Their roster is an interesting mix of older veterans and players making a huge jump from U19s or Collegiate level rugby.

San Diego was supposed to play in Dallas, and switched gears last minute to play in the Roy Lucas, so they were light numbers. Deciding to play with only eight, shows their commitment to development and process over result.

Saracens clearly missed Ashley Kmiecik, but they play a highly structured, well-coached 7s with tons of talent across their roster.
Saracens and ORSU are still waiting to get clear information regarding Nationals qualification. Considering the performance of Saracens, ORSU, Berkeley and Sacramento at the last three National Tournaments, it’s hard to understand the Pacific Coast only getting two seeds this year.

Final
San Diego: Hannah Lockwood, Talia Carrasquillo, Sabrina Kraft, Irayda Karmin Macedo, Phaidra Knight, Josie Ziluca, Amy Naber, Lauren Rhode

ORSU: Robin Woods, San Juanita
 Moreno, Jess Shipley, Anna Symonds, Krystal Franklin, Beckett Royce, Adrienne Acosta, Bella
 Macca, Zoe
 Wilson, Naomi
 Aau, Dani Riggelman, Caroline Midkiff

Tries:
San Diego: Naber, Ziluca
ORSU: Moreno (3), Symonds, Royce
Conversions:
Lockwood 2
Shipley 1

All photo credits Mark Murray.