The West End Ruckettes capped off an excellent weekend of 7s rugby with a win over the New Jersey Blaze to take the Girls HSRC 7s tournament during the CRC weekend in Chester, Pa.

West End joined the Blaze and Doylestown as the three 3-0 teams coming out of pool play; the Ruckettes beat Divine Savior Holy Angels, Downingtown, and Unionville in a tough pool. 

That set them up for a Saturday quarterfinal game against Downingtown, which they won, and then a rematch with DSHA in the semis. The Virginia-based club won that one, too, to the tune of 27-0.

The Blaze, meanwhile, got by West Shore, Fairfax, and Rock Rugby in pool play, and then Kingswood in the quarters. In the semis they defeated Doylestown 26-5.

In the final, though, it was all Westend  

"I think we played well as a team," said West End Coach Matt Estes. "We had a very simple game plan and strategy going in. We stressed fundamentals: maintain possession, move the ball well through the hands, and play great defense. The girls performed way above our expectations and executed the plan to perfection. They were all calm, collected, mature, and played a very balanced tournament. We never got down as a team and supported each other’s successes and challenges tremendously."  

Elizabeth Wilson and Alex DiMarco (dubbed Moose and Goose) were the lifeblood of West End all weekend. They were leaders, showed their experience, and DiMarco especially needed to do so after Abby Tobias was felled by a broken collarbone on Saturday.

Inside the Talen Energy Stadium for the final, Ariana Ramsey took over. Ramsey, relatively new to rugby, is a very promising player and provided unmatched pace and strength on the wing.

"We knew we had our work cut out for ourselves," said Estes. "Ariana got better and better each game. She exploded in the final with three tries and delivered an MVP-worthy performance. We’re looking forward to camps and a few tournaments this summer and look forward to returning to the CRCs next year"