Arizona Wins West Coast 7s
Arizona Wins West Coast 7s
The University of Arizona won the two-day West Coast 7s tournament at Treasure Island in San Francisco Sunday, beating Saint Mary’s in the final.
The tournament was full of exciting and surprising games, and the semifinals and final were a perfectly dramatic end to the weekend.
After Day One, Cal, Arizona, UCLA, and Arizona State all came through unbeaten. Arizona showed a look at what was to come, unleashing some aggressive, hard running and good ball movement. But more than that, the Wildcats were patient, content to let Saint Mary’s make tackles (which they did quite well) until the scoring opportunity presented itself.
On to Sunday, then, and the knockout rounds. The big news came in the quarterfinals, when a hard-driving, physical UC Davis team defeated Cal. The Cal team was made up of freshmen and sophomores, but they were still very good freshmen and sophomores. The 12-0 UC Davis shutout was the talk of the tournament.
Unfortunately tor the UCD Aggies, that was the highlight of their day, as they struggled to maintain possession and ended up fourth.
In the semis, then, Arizona wasn’t particular astounding, but Davis wasn’t all that great, either - repeatedly fumbling away attacking penalty opportunities, and the Wildcats prevailed. The other semi was fun to watch, as Arizona State challenged the Saint Mary’s defense again and again. But Saint Mary’s scored two key clutch tries. With time up at halftime, the Gaels turned the ball over and managed to set free Anthony Rodriguez for a key, game-tying score.
Saint Mary’s took the lead, but then yellow cards to each side ended up favoring ASU, as they worked the ball patiently to the line and Alex Sandstrom got over for a 14-12 lead.
Time seemed to be up, and all Arizona State needed to do was run out the clock. But a turnover in the breakdown set up a nice team break for the Gaels, and Alec Barton was the last man in a four-player line of passes, and scored in the corner. There was one more chance for Arizona State, but Saint Mary’s held on 17-14.
In the final, Arizona worked the ball impressively and ran out to a 14-0 lead. Saint Mary’s got into penalty trouble - at one point being down to five players - and Arizona held on 1912.
Day 1
UCLA 17 WWU 0
Cal 29 SD State 7
Air Force 19 Cal Poly 5
Santa Clara 22 Grand Canyon 14
Saint Mary’s 28 UCSB 0
Arizona State 41 SF State 7
Arizona 14 SD State 10
UC Davis 12 Utah 10
UCLA 36 Cal Poly 5
Grand Canyon 36 U. San Diego 5
WWU 20 Air Force 19
Arizona 28 UCSB 0
Saint Mary’s 21 SD State 12
Cal 29 Santa Clara 7
Arizona State 19 UC Davis 12
Utah 43 SF State 7
SD State 28 UCSB 0
WWU 12 Cal Poly 5
UC Davis 46 SF State 0
Arizona State 29 Utah 0
UCLA 24 Air Force 14
Cal 26 Grand Canyon 5
Cup QFs
Cal 0 UC Davis 12
Arizona 17 WWU 0
UCLA 7 Saint Mary’s 31
Arizona State 26 Santa Clara 19
Bowl QFs
Grand Canyon 17 SF State 7
SD State 24 Cal Poly 5
Air Force 28 UCSB 0
Utah 31 U. San Diego 7
Plate SFs
Cal 29 WWU 0
Santa Clara 14 UCLA 12
Cup SFs
Arizona 14 UC Davis 5
Saint Mary’s 17 Arizona 14
Bowl SFs
Grand Canyon 24 SD State 22
Utah 33 Air Force 14
Shield SFs
Cal Poly 17 SF State 12
15th: SF State
Shield Final
Cal Poly 19 U. San Diego 15
11th/12th
SD State 22 Air Force 5
Bowl Final
Utah 25 Grand Canyon 19
7th/8th
WWU 24 UCLA 17
Plate Final
Cal 32 Santa Clara 0
3rd/4th
Arizona 36 UC Davis 0
Cup Final
Arizona 19 Saint Mary’s 14