Comeback Kids: Life Women Take CRAA Premier 7s

05.08.2023College Women

Life University won the Women’s Premier 7s Sunday, putting an emphatic stamp on the spring for the Running Eagles.

Life overcame a series of slow starts during the tournament, but were the masters of halftime adjustments to win it all. The tournament promised plenty of competition with teams from D1 Elite, CRAA D1, and NIRA competing. And it was, with the top end being fairly robust and competitive.

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And while there were some blowouts, on the second day of action, including both Cup semifinals, the Cup final, 3rd-4th game, and the Plate semis and final, were all decided by a try or less. All that was fine for Life, which seemed to thrive in high-pressure games.

Life fell behind in their first game of the tournament, with Davenport taking a 12-7 lead into the late stages before Ashinaye Barner and Saher Hamdan scored to pull out a 17-12 win. They then fell behind to the CRAA Selects. A compilation side made up of players looking for more game time during the tournament, The Selects were not expected to contend, but an early breakaway try from Tanaka Kanyepi (a freshman at Lindenwood) shocked the Running Eagles, and the Selects led 14-7 at halftime.

If Head Coach Ryszard Chadwick was hoping to rest some of his players, he was instead forced to get them on the field. Su Adegoke made an instant impact, and her attacking flair also helped lead to two impressive tries from Matilda Kocaj, who showed off a nifty sidestep. Life won 24-14.

Life rounded out their pool play with a huge 38-12 decision over Army, with Kocaj scoring two and Adegoke going one better, and scoring three.

Alex Wantlin notched one try and converted four to claim 13 points and put teams on notice that when Life scores tries, they had a kicked who could make sure they counted for seven.

Meanwhile, as expected Dartmouth, Lindenwood, and Harvard all went 3-0 in pool play. Lindenwood blew through AIC, Cal, and a tough Sacred Heart side, outscoring them 123-15. Dartmouth controlled play over LIU, West Chester, and a powerful Central Washington side, allowing just the one try. With Emily Henrich leading the defensive effort and Kristen Bitter adding full value for tries and setting up teammates such as Sophie Ragg, Dartmouth looked solid.

Harvard won comfortably over UNH, Grand Canyon, and Penn State, allowing just the one try in three games. Lennox London, Cameron Fields, and Tiahna Padilla all were outstanding for Harvard.

So that set up the quarterfinals, which all four won from post to post … except … Life. That’s right, once again the Running Eagles had to come from behind, this time needing two Adegoke tries to overhaul Central Washington 24-12.

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Both semifinals produced comeback results.

Sunday was hit with a thunderstorm that ran over Aveva Stadium in Houston in the late morning and early afternoon. While the semis were played before the lightning showed up (barely), the rain had already started and it slowed down some of the play, keeping scores a bit lower. The defenses were getting better, too.

The Final Comeback

Dartmouth scored early to lead Lindenwood 5-0, and with a supreme defensive effort the Big Green held that lead well into the second half. But Amy Brice, whose leadership and game savvy was crucial to Lindenwood’s success, tied it up, and late in the game Kapoiana Bailey capped off an excellent team attack to make it 10-5 Lions.

The game ended with Dartmouth knocking on the door. Ragg had a shot to score in the corner but a double tackle at the tryline pushed her into touch-in-goal and the game ended 10-5 for Lindenwood.

Harvard dominated the opening half in the other semi. Padilla, London, and Fields all scored tries and the Crimson were rolling, playing an attractive, open style. Life had hardly seen the ball in the first half and perhaps that was the message of encouragement for them at the break. Once they got some continuity going, the Running Eagles scored two quick tries, and Kocaj capped it off with her tireless support running to win the game 21-17.

So on to the final, where these two teams renewed their intense rivalry. It took almost the entire first half before someone scored, and, shocker, Life got on the board first. Adegoke was the one once again and the two teams traded tries through the rest of the game. The match hit full time with Lindenwood up 14-12. But Life had the ball still, and of course the game can’t end until the ball goes dead. From a scrum the ball went out to Wantlin, who drifted left before offloading to Adegoka, who instantly cut back the other way. She sold a dummy and then a sidestep, and since other Lindenwood defenders had been moving to their right to follow Wantlin, Adegoka was free on the right edge. She raced for the corner and despite the best efforts of the unceasing Brice, she was in.

Life 17 Lindenwood 12, and Life had their championship.

Adegoke was a deserved MVP but Wantlin was excellent in running the show and in her kicking. Kocaj and Nina Wilson worked enormously hard, and they needed to with all those comebacks. Chadwick also gave a nod to injured captain Autumn Locicero, who helped run the team during the spring.

But it was also about resilience.

"Games and tournaments like this are not won and lost in these moments,” said Chadwick. “They are won and lost in the preparation leading up to these moments and the thirteen that traveled were pushed on a daily basis by players who didn't travel. The greater squad played a massive role in getting these players ready and deserve just as much credit for the win. Since January they have been working to gain more knowledge, become more athletic, and develop a higher skill set."

Harvard came back to defeat Dartmouth to take 3rd, and AIC won in overtime over Army and their points machine Sydney Schaaf (and if you want a good laugh, see the Rugby Channel coverage of this game where GRR Editor Alex Goff cannot for the life of him figure out what the score is).

Central Washington had their moments, and one of their better moments was a 27-0 shutout of Penn State to take 7th.

This was an excellent tournament, but it wasn’t as if there was no disparity in competitiveness. More than one-third (37.5%) of pool games were shutouts, and the same number had a losing team score just one try. Only two pool games were decided by a try or less.

But as the knockout brackets panned out, it was much different.

And NIRA vs D1 Elite? Well, D1 Elite were 1st and 2nd, but NIRA took the next four spots before D1 Elite teams took 7th and 8th.

CRAA Women’s Premier 7s Order of Finish

Champions: Life
2nd: Lindenwood
3rd: Harvard
4th: Dartmouth
5th: AIC
6th: Army
7th: Central Washington
8th: Penn State
9th: Davenport
10th: Sacred Heart
11th: West Chester / GCU
13th: LIU
14th: UNH
15th: Cal / CRAA Selects

The Final Comeback

CRAA Women’s Premier 7s Order of Finish

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