There’s both a sigh of relief and an eagerness to get back to work in the Women’s Junior All American (WJAA) camp. Yesterday, the junior Eagles defeated the Canada U20s 38-22 in the first of two Can-Am games at Central Washington University (read the recap and see more photos).

“What’s one of the most important things you can take away from the game,” WJAA coach Wil Snape said to this players last night. “Enjoy this moment with the people who got you there and who you’re with now.

“We look at it as a journey to them becoming Eagles,” Snape added. “They're setting the standard for themselves as individuals and what can be achieved as a team. Now we need to refocus and put in the work that will give us another positive performance on Saturday.”

The WJAAs set the pace early on, taking advantage of a kickoff error to pressure inside Canada’s 22, steal scrums, and move the ball through lots of hands. After 20 minutes, the junior Eagles had scored three tries.

“We didn’t catch Canada off guard so much that we came out firing and just played rugby,” Snape said of the scoring blitz. “For 20 minutes, we just hit everything right – hit our rucks well, we moved the ball well, we moved into position well. We used all that nervous energy and excitement in the right way. That’s the level we can play at.”

Sustaining that level is the ultimate goal, and the players are aware of where they flourished and flagged throughout the match. Canada squared up in the second quarter and then controlled momentum after the half.

“They played each other only 12 months ago, and we all remember what happened then,” Snape reflected on the 2014 Can-Am Series. “Canada is a strong side. We have to make sure that our level doesn’t drop [when they surge], that we stand up to it, which is something we’re working on.”

Penalties hampered the WJAAs in the second half, as the team watched its point differential dwindle. At one point, Canada came within two points of the Americans and seemed to run with the wind at its back.

“I was really pleased with the resiliency we showed,” Snape said. “We talked about that during the week, that there are going to be times when things aren’t going well for us in the game, and we have to work out ways to pull together and overcome that. They really did it. It was a really difficult time – those 20 minutes after halftime – and somehow we managed to stop Canada from carrying the momentum."

The program has done a lot of work with mental skills – defining what does it mean to be mentally tough – and Katie Wurst’s instruction during the previous two camps has been instrumental in that education process.

“It’s about players being leaders and taking it upon themselves to do something special in those moments [of need],” Snape said. “There were five or six individuals who were just awesome and who played well in the moment when they needed to. Nate Serevi obviously scored three tries and she will grab the headlines with that. But Nate’s defense was just as good as well – the way she was hitting people. Nate was able to score because of the work done inside of her – our forwards working hard, our scrumhalf and flyhalf communicating and moving the ball fast.”

Serevi is part of a senior leadership group that also includes captain Kyla Chipman, Danielle Ordway, and Abby Vogel. They all came through with the big plays and buoyed the squad through the tough times.

The team was rewarded with two late tries, capping a six-try performance.

“First, you have to say, 'Well done,'” Snape reflected on the offensive output. “To score six tries in an international game is pretty exceptional. But we left a lot of scores out there as well – three tries in the first half alone. We’re creating chances; we just have to clean up our execution and finish every chance.”

The new attacking system debuted well, but it’s not the only place where refinement is needed.

“Canada is going to come back strong, and I imagine it’s going to be a much tighter game,” Snape looked toward Saturday. “We know we didn’t defend as well as we could have. Canada had a lot of linebreaks, and that’s not acceptable for us. They know some aspects of our play weren’t good enough, but they're setting their own standards, and we’re going to take it to the next level.”

The All Americans retake the CWU pitch on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 11 a.m. PT. Watch the game live here.