Congratulations to the Fort Collins Youth Rugby Girls with a 4th place showing at the National Championships. All the teams were evenly matched and the competition was top notch though the weather was not to the liking with rain all weekend and the pitches all severly waterlogged. A recap of the girls matches:
First match put us up against Lakewood, Ohio (Ohio State Champions and 2nd place in the Midwest). Under rainy conditions and a waterlogged pitch we changed our gameplan to do more kicking and chasing in these conditions. Lakewood came out with a good rucking team and the first half showed both teams having some good stops near the goaline to keep the game scoreless until with just a couple minutes left Lakewood drove in for the score and a 7-0 lead. Fort Collins answered right back with a kick and chase down the pitch that was then kicked further down the pitch where Karen Hunt fell on it for the try and at halftime the score was 7-5. Second half saw Fort Collins take the lead early when another kick and chase took place and this time Alex Berry chased it down and fell on it to score the try, conversion hit the upright and Fort Collins led 10-7. The second half then became a battle of defense and field position with Lakewood driving down the field only to be turned away time and time again. With no time left on the clock Lakewood had one more attempt rucking the ball down the pitch using penalties and rucks to drive to inside the five when they pitched it in to one of their flankers and she fell into the try zone. The referee looked closely at where the ball was and then signaled held up in try zone, no score and the match was over. A great stand by the forwards at the try line to ensure the win!
Semi-Finals saw Fort Collins taking on Kent, Washington, the number two seed and the Northwest Champions. This team posed a challenge as they had both a strong pack and some good backs including the fullback that could really kick the ball. First half in this match saw both teams move inside the 22-metre line but both teams defenses picked up and stopped any attempts at scoring. Midway thru the first half saw Fort Collins once again inside the 22 when Kent’s defense picked up and tried to kick the ball to safety but was blocked and caught by Karen Hunt and taken in for the try. Karen also made the conversion to give Fort Collins a 7-0 lead. Kent answered back about 5 minutes later with a weakside overload to tighten the score at 7-5 and then with only about 5 minutes before half found another weakside overload and with some good passing was able to score the try and take the lead going into halftime 10-7. Second half looked a lot like the first half with both teams driving inside the 22 only to have the defense stiffen and be driven back including a great stand by Fort Collins inside their 5 to keep Kent out. Finally on the last play of the match Kent was able to drive it in for the score and end the match with the win 17-7. A great game by Fort Collins as they never gave up and only needed a small break and the results could have been different, this was also one of the first times that we played in weather conditions like this with the pitch being almost completely under water and it definitely hampered our style of play. Still a great effort by Fort Collins and I’m proud of each and every player.
Sunday’s match for 3rd place pitted us against State College from Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania State Champions) and our intentions were to play for the win but to also make sure that every player that traveled to Portland, Maine would play. First half showed State College with some big hard runners that were tough to tackle and Fort Collins playing somewhat flat at the start. By halftime State College had scored 4 trys and three conversions and were up 26-0. In the second half Fort Collins woke up and started playing much more aggressive ball and spent almost the whole half in State’s end of the pitch. With about 10 minutes to go in the match Karen Hunt took a pitch split the centers and broke thru the fullback to get Fort Collins on the scoreboard with the try and conversion 26-7. Fort Collins then came right back when Alex Berry pitched to Karen and looped around her for the pitch back and also split the centers to score and with Karen’s conversion the match ended with the final score being 26-14.
Congratulations once again for a great season, ending it with a 14-2 record including being the Colorado State Champions for the third year in a row and 4th in the Nation.
I did find out that Divine Savior beat Kent, Washington in the Championship match but it went to overtime kicks as they were tied after regulation and overtime 5-5. It then went to place kicks with both teams tied at 2-2 into the 11th round before Milwaukee made the kick to win the title. Here are the final standings:
1. Divine Savior (Milwaukee)
2. Kent, Washington
3. State College (Pennsylvania)
4. Fort Collins
5. Lakewood, Ohio
6. Bud Bay (Olympia, Washington)
7. Portland, Maine
8. KARNS (Knoxville, Tennesse)
