National Club 7s: Quarterfinals Recap

Seattle, Belmont Shore, Kansas City, and Old Blue will play for the Cup tomorrow after they survived intense quarterfinals. Seattle vs. NYAC was first up. Seattle would strike first. Pinned down deep in their own end but Kevin Swiryn pulled out a piece of magic to get free. He then found Miles Craigwell who shook off a tackle for the try and the early 7-0 lead.  They would then score again a few minutes later when Tim Stanfill recovered a cross-field kick and then passed to Mike Palefau who would power his way over. Things got worse for NYAC as they had a man sent to the bin.

The second half saw both teams settle down, at least for a little bit. Things heated up against three minutes from time when John Cullen put in a solid fend only to double-move at the line. He subsequent push of a NYAC saw him sent to the bin. Even down a man Seattle's defense held firm and when Rocco Mauer fled down the sideline for the score it sealed the win. Justin Hundley scored a late consolation try to make the final 17-7.

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The Chicago Lions enjoyed the majority of possession in the first half of their match against Belmont Shore but still found themselves down 7-0 early. It took an Adam Sandstrom try and conversion a the stroke of halftime to even things up.  Belmont Shore broke the deadlock early in the second half via James Muse. Sandstrom matches that effort only a few minutes later. With the score deadlocked at 14-14 and zero time left on the clock Eric Duechle found a gap in the defense to give Belmont the winning try.

The quarterfinal between Kansas City and Denver saw two teams very familiar with each other. That worked to the Blues benefit early as they took a 12-0 lead into the half. Denver looked tired playing their fourth match of the day and didn't show the same urgency as Kansas City. The Blue nearly added to their lead in the second half but a forward pass allowed the Barbarians to counter. Ben Pinkelman scored only minutes later to put Denver back within a try. Michael Garrity then scored a minute later to even things up. With no time left Walt Elder scored to give the Blue the shock win.

The final quarterfinal saw Old Blue play the East Palo Alto Razorbacks. Things didn't start well for Old Blue as Nate Augspurger went down with a head injury early and was taken away in an ambulance. The team was able to concentrate enough after the incident to get an unconverted Marcus Henderson try. They nearly had another only moments later but there was no support at the tryline. The Razorbacks then marched down the field to score a converted try. However, James Bird would score near halftime to restore Old Blue's lead. The Razorbacks scored straight off the second half kick to even the score before Henderson (twice) and Derek Lipscomb scored to seal the win. The Razorbacks would score at the end to make the final 31-19

New Orleans were one of the best teams to miss out on the quarterfinals. That wasn't apparent as they had to come from behind to beat Austin 14-12 in their Bowl match-up. They will play the Maryland Exiles tomorrow after they beat Hawaii 33-19. The other Bowl semi-final will see Santa Monica play 1823.  The Dolphins came from behind to beat Schuylkill River 26-21 and 1823 handled Atlanta.

Women

NOVA, Old Blue, All Blues, and San Diego are set for the Cup semi-finals of the women's division after wins in the quarterfinals. The match-up between Chicago and NOVA was supposed to be close but in the end it was anything but. NOVA had nearly all the possession en route to an easy 24-0. In the second quarterfinal Old Blue got up early before ICEF fought back to take a 10-5 lead. However, that lead wouldn't last long as Old Blue scored two tries of their own to take a nine point lead into halftime. They then scored after the break and withstood a furious ICEF comeback to win 24-17.

The other side of the bracket saw ORSU and the All Blues play to a very physical affair that was dominated by defense until Lisa Dombroski found a gap, delivered a massive fend, and the score under the posts. That would be the only score of the match as defense prevailed in the second half as well. The match between the San Diego Surfers and Atlanta was similarly defensive. Tries a piece from the Breakers in each half were the difference in the 10-0 win.

Down in the Bowl New York beat Philadelphia, Youngbloodz beat Mana Wahine, the Mountain Selects topped the Bluebonnets, and the D.C. Furies beat the Sacramento Amazons.

Men's Scores