The Girls Open 7s at the LVI produced some lovely pieces of drama, and also showed that the unity of playing as a single school can sometimes trump the elite play of a select side.
Four of the top eight teams, including the top two seeds, were single schools. Lake City out of BC was un-scored-upon in beating Minnesota, Flatirons Blue, and Texoma. The Falcons were the #1 seed. But the real drama came with the battle for the #2 seed. In Pool D, British Columbia Elite Youth 7s (BCEY) was expecting to win the pool, but whenever they put on a big score, Summit HS out of Colorado did the same. The two met in a dramatic game late on Day One, and Summit came out 12-10 winners.
"It was great," said Summit Coach Karl Barth. "It was a really well-played game. Players would see tiny gaps and take them. We'd see goal line stands, and great cover defense. It was a great game, really balanced."
Scored first, using their big midfield to punch through for a 5-0 lead. Summit tied it up with a try from Brigid Corson. BC scored again in the second half to lead 10-5, and then pinned Summit in their own 22. But Sumit got the ball and sent it out to Becca Rosko, who sped through a gap, and weaved in and around the BC defenders, pulling away from grasping hands more than once, and galloping in under the posts.
Natalie Gray kicked the conversion to take the lead, and the ref blew for full time.
"What was really good about it was the series of good decisions that allowed Becca to make that break," said Barth. "We did well today. We played well in our first game, especially since we hadn't played since November. We shook off the rust and played as a team, and I think there's something to the fact that single-school teams play more as if they're on the same page. We were able to come here this year because the LVI is now in March, so basketball is over and we had a team. We couldn't do that before."
BC did hold on to get a quarterfinal spot as the #6 seed, and you know they're not happy about it.
Fallbrook also went 3-0 to win Pool B, while Canadian select sides the Mavericks and Eastern Ontario also won their pools. In Pool A, US-based select side program Atlantis started off shakily, losing to the Rocky Mountain Rebels, but they then beat the Mavericks by a try, and rolled on Virginia to finish 2-1 and squeak into the quarters, where they face Lake City.
Scores below, then pool standings, and then knockout round matchups.
| EORU | 19-15 | View Park Prep |
| Flatirons Red | 15-5 | Mavericks 7's Blue |
| EORU | 45-0 | Mavericks 7's Blue |
| Flatirons Red | 0-37 | View Park Prep |
| EORU | 26-5 | Flatirons Red |
| View Park Prep | 24-10 | Mavericks 7's Blue |
| Vancouver Wave | 19-24 | Tennessee Tri-Star |
| Fallbrook | 27-10 | Wisconsin |
| Lake City Falcons | 27-0 | Texoma Rugby Club |
| Flatirons Blue | 5-10 | Minnesota Tundra |
| Mavericks 7's Red | 42-0 | Rugby Virginia Blue |
| Rocky Mountain Lady Rebels | 14-10 | Atlantis |
| BCEY 7's | 54-0 | Rugby Virginia Red |
| Summit High School | 36-5 | Aztec Warriors |
| Vancouver Wave | 0-45 | Wisconsin |
| Fallbrook | 36-10 | Tennessee Tri-Star |
| Lake City Falcons | 38-0 | Minnesota Tundra |
| Flatirons Blue | 22-10 | Texoma Rugby Club |
| Mavericks 7's Red | 10-15 | Atlantis |
| Rocky Mountain Lady Rebels | 22-5 | Rugby Virginia Blue |
| BCEY 7's | 50-0 | Aztec Warriors |
| Summit High School | 52-0 | Rugby Virginia Red |
| Vancouver Wave | 0-10 | Fallbrook |
| Tennessee Tri-Star | 22-7 | Wisconsin |
| Lake City Falcons | 41-0 | Flatirons Blue |
| Texoma Rugby Club | 5-19 | Minnesota Tundra |
| Mavericks 7's Red | 19-10 | Rocky Mountain Lady Rebels |
| Rugby Virginia Blue | 0-27 | Atlantis |
| BCEY 7's | 10-12 | Summit High School |
| Rugby Virginia Red | 0-26 | Aztec Warriors |
| Pool A | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| Mavericks Red | 2 | 1 | 0 | 71 | 25 | 46 | 7 |
| Atlantis | 2 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 24 | 28 | 7 |
| Rocky Mt. Lady Rebels | 2 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 34 | 12 | 7 |
| Rugby Virginia Blue | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 91 | -86 | 3 |
| Pool B | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| Fallbrook | 3 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 20 | 53 | 9 |
| Tennessee Tri-Star | 2 | 1 | 0 | 56 | 62 | -6 | 7 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 2 | 0 | 62 | 49 | 13 | 5 |
| Vancouver Wave | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 79 | -60 | 3 |
| Pool C | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| Lake City Falcons | 3 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 0 | 106 | 9 |
| Minnesota Tundra | 2 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 62 | -33 | 7 |
| Flatirons Blue | 1 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 61 | -34 | 5 |
| Texoma Rugby Club | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 68 | -53 | 3 |
| Pool D | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| Summit High School | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 15 | 85 | 9 |
| BCEY 7s | 2 | 1 | 0 | 114 | 12 | 102 | 7 |
| Aztec Warriors | 1 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 86 | -55 | 5 |
| Rugby Virginia Red | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 142 | -142 | 3 |
| Pool E | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | Pts |
| EORU | 3 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 20 | 70 | 9 |
| View Park Prep | 2 | 1 | 0 | 78 | 24 | 54 | 7 |
| Flatirons Red | 1 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 68 | -48 | 5 |
| Mavericks Blue | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 84 | -64 | 3 |
Cup QFs
#1 Lake City v #8 Atlantis
#4 Fallbrook v #5 Mavericks Red
#3 EORU v #6 BCEY
#2 Summitt HS v #7 View Park Prep
Plate QFs
#1 Tennessee Tri Star v #8 Texoma
#4 Wisconsin v #5 Flatiron Blue
#3 Rocky Mountain v #6 Flatiron Red
#2 Minnesota Tundra v #7 Aztec Warriors
Bowl Semis
#1 Vancouver Wave v #4 Rugby Virginia Red
#2 Mavericks Blue v #3 Rugby Virginia Blue
