The Cleveland Rugby Coalition was back in action this past weekend at Gem City 7’s down in Dayton, OH. The Coalition went 4-1 for the day taking home 3rd behind perennial powerhouse squads Chicago Northshore and Chicago Lions.

The Coalition looked to shake off the rust of an 18 month layoff with an opening match against Columbus Women’s Rugby’s 2nd side. Both sides looked a little tentative at first, and nerves seemed to play a factor in the first few minutes before the Coalition settled in and got to work. Team Captain Kaela Thompson got the Coalition on the board and that seemed to get the team energized.

Tries by Mary Chura, weekend MVP Molly Cancian, and Shannon Hustosky followed in what ended up being a 20-5 Coalition victory.

In the second pool play game the Coalition faced off against eventual tournament champion Chicago Northshore. Strong pressure defense by Danielle Walko-Siua kept Northshore on their heels through the first few minutes and allowed MVP Cancian to break through for the first try of the game. Hannah Trommer and Renee Whittenberger bottled up Chicago’s attempts to run down the middle and created the turnover ball that allowed Cancian to sprint away for another long try. Chicago would come back strong in the second half using impressive team continuity and offloads to keep the ball alive and score three unanswered in the second frame, eventually downing the Coalition 17-10.

After an extended break the Coalition resumed play in the reseed rounds playing the other 2nd place pool teams. First up was the host team Dayton. Motivated by their close loss to Chicago Northshore, the Coalition came out firing on all cylinders early, keeping the pressure on Dayton throughout. MVP Cancian put on a clinic scoring a hat trick of tries while showcasing her defensive skill set chasing down runners and drawing penalties to create turnovers. Whittenberger, newcomer Lucinda Darvell, and Trommer gained solid ground down the middle of the field helping to set up tries by Hustosky and Morgan Rauls. Walko-Siua added two more herself showcasing fantastic footwork and field awareness. Thompson added a conversion and Brooke Barnes notched two more for a final score of 43-0.

The last match of the reseed round would see the Coalition face off against Columbus Women’s Rugby’s top side. The Coalition would start the match strong with big booming hits by Marcaya Bailous and Whittenberger. Hustosky showed off her fitness with an unmatchable workrate on defense while also managing to connect with Cancian for a give and go try down the far sideline. Cancian would find the try zone twice herself while Wittenberger and Walko-Siua would close out the scoring with one try a piece. Barnes would hit another conversion to give the Coalition 27 on the match. The second half the defensive communication experienced a slight lapse and the Coalition may have let off the gas a little to allow Columbus to get back in the game, but strong work from Darvell, Rauls, and Chura preserved the win for Cleveland 27-17.

The final game of the day saw the Coalition take on an impressive Cincinnati side for third place. Cincinnati began the match strong using their power runners to continually test the Coalition’s commitment to defense. After surviving the early onslaught Bailous showcased her power and speed bumping off defenders on one try scoring run and racing away from others on the second. Barnes added a conversion and the Coalition walked away with third place after a 12-5 victory.

Head Coach Dan Prater was pleased with the overall performance on the day, going 4-1 and out scoring opponents 112-44. He praised the performance of Cancian on both sides of the ball, while team captain Thompson said “she made it easy on the rest of us, playing sweep and still being able to finish on offense… that’s a lot of work.” For her part Cancian was excited for the team to have a great day and and was impressed by team chemistry since most of the team hasn’t played since before the Covid-19 pandemic. She goes on to praise her teammates, “I’m so grateful to be able to play with so many amazing people”

The Coalition head back to practice on Tuesday at Impett Park in Cleveland to prepare for Steel City 7’s in Pittsburgh June 26.

Gem City 7s - 2021

The Cleveland Rugby Coalition was back in action this past weekend at Gem City 7’s down in Dayton, OH. The Coalition went 4-1 for the day taking home 3rd behind perennial powerhouse squads Chicago Northshore and Chicago Lions.

Tries by Mary Chura, weekend MVP Molly Cancian, and Shannon Hustosky followed in what ended up being a 20-5 Coalition victory.