Rock 'N Roll 7s Tournament Report

Coalition Goes 7-1 Overall and Comes Away with First and Third place at Rock n Roll 7’s.

The Cleveland Rugby Coalition entered two sides at Rock N Roll 7’s in Mentor, OH this past weekend and went 7-1 overall capturing first and third place in the women’s division. The first side continued their unbeaten streak going 4-0 to come away with the women’s division championship, while the second side started off their campaign going 3-1 to finish in 3rd place on the day.

The Coalition’s top side opened up the tournament by shutting out Akron by a score of 55-0. The Coalition jumped on the board early, generating offense through multiple players including Dakota Steed and Kaela Thompson getting on the board with two tries apiece. Paced by a strong defensive effort and a series of big hits by Emily Ramsey and Vanessa Marsh the Coalition capitalized on turnover ball and kept the pressure on Akron all game.

After a short turn around the top side took on the newly formed Pittsburgh Forge to see who would emerge as the top seed from group A. Leading try scorer on the day and first side MVP Marcaya Bailous (34 pts on 6 tries and 2 conversions) scored twice early in the game. The Coalition controlled the rest of the game through the stellar play of Hannah Long and the top side would run away with the game winning 32-0.

Leading try scorer on the day and first side MVP Marcaya Bailous (34 pts on 6 tries and 2 conversions) scored twice early in the game.

While the top side got a much deserved break the second side started their day by taking on the Jags. Led by Alexis Beach the second side came out firing getting the win over the Jags 29-5. Fielding a deadly trio of youth, speed, and skill CRC’s second side pushed the pace behind great individual efforts by second side MVP Brooke Barnes and speedster Olivia Gargarita, both of whom found the try zone multiple times on the day.

Fielding a deadly trio of youth, speed, and skill CRC’s second side pushed the pace behind great individual efforts by second side MVP Brooke Barnes and speedster Olivia Gargarita, both of whom found the try zone multiple times on the day.

Not to be outdone by their top side counterparts CRC’s second side closed out pool play by pitching a shut out of their own, beating the Cleveland Iron Maidens 42-0 to win pool C. Proving they could run the ball both up the middle through the punishing runs of Alicia Sikora or through speed on the edge with the bursts of Marina Mullins CRC’s second side scored at will. Like their top side counterparts, strong defense set the backbone for the offensive explosion, and turnover ball created opportunities for players across the board with five different players getting on the score sheet in the last match of pool play.

By winning their individual pools both sides found themselves in the Championship bracket with the Coalition’s first side facing the wildcard out of pool B, Youngstown Steel Valley, while the CRC’s second side drew a tough match up with the winner of pool B, Columbus Women’s Rugby Club.

In the first semifinal the Coalition’s top side won in resounding fashion, beating Steel Valley 33-0, shutting out their third straight team on the day. Overcoming what was an uncharacteristically slow and somewhat sloppy start to the game from both sides the Coalition managed to find their footing halfway through the first frame and turned on the scoring. Alexis Barnes led the effort with great two-way play, dominating scrums from the hook position and finding the try zone twice through textbook support running.

The second semifinal saw CRC’s second side fall to Columbus by a score of 26-5. CRC’s youngsters found themselves pitted against a strong Columbus side whose speed and experience proved to be a little too tough of a task for them to conquer. Columbus took advantage of a few key defensive lapses to get on the board. CRC was able to break through in the second half with Maggie Wetter putting in the lone try of the match, however it was too little in the end to advance to the final.

CRC’s second side would bounce back though shutting out Youngstown Steel Valley by a score of 36-0. Having tasted defeat for the first time CRC came out firing, making big hits and strong runs made possible by the pinpoint passing of Mahina Beates and Jess Fox. CRC’s second side spread the ball around and scored with ease guaranteeing they would end their day in third. MVP Brooke Barnes added two more tries and successful conversions to her stat line, finishing the day with 44 points on six tries and 7 conversions.

Playing for the Championship the Coalition’s top side took on a tough Columbus side winning 20-5 to claim the Rock n Roll 7’s Championship. In their toughest match of the day the Coalition pushed Columbus with crisp ball movement looking for defensive weak spots and trying to catch them in a mismatch. Once again it was MVP Bailous that found the space to open up the scoring giving the Coalition a 5-0 lead. Dakota Steed quickly followed that up with a try of her own using a nifty move to break the line and turning on the jets to prove herself uncatchable. Tough team defense pushed Columbus to to work hard to find open space with the ball and they finally broke though to get themselves on the board. The Coalition responded with Bailous and Steed putting in another try each, sealing the victory and ensuring the Coalition would remain unbeaten this summer.