The Women Eagles are going away from their home tournament with silverware after beating Spain 22-0 for the Plate. The Eagles controlled the match from start to finish and got big performances from Lauren Doyle, Kelly Griffin, Jillion Potter, Jessica Javelet, and others. The team will have to be pleased with the win especially since they were disappointed with yesterday's performance in pool play. They are now tied for fifth place in the standings with England and Spain.
The match started out with both teams playing strong defense. Neither team was able to get much going until more than halfway in the first half when Amelia Villines scored the opener for the Eagles. She ran a strong line and received a great pass from Griffin for the score. The conversion missed making it 5-0.
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Spain nearly got a try of their own a few minutes later but Jillion Potter made a huge effort to get back and make a try saving tackle. The U.S. were then able to clear the danger and the match went into halftime at 5-0.
In the second half the Eagles blew the match open. Doyle made a nice play to set up Potter to double the Eagles lead to 10-0. Javelet then increased the lead to 15-0 with another try. She also did well to save a Spanish try with a well timed tackle. Doyle then put the finishing touches on the match with a late try to make the final score 22-0.
After putting in two poor performances against Canada and Australia on day one and only escaping to the Cup quarterfinals with a big win over China the Eagles will have to be pleased with their play on day two. They lost to Canada in the quarterfinals but did show better than the day before. Their win over England in the Plate semi-finals was a turning point for the team as they showed they can beat a quality side. The win over Spain was icing on the cake.
Now the team will focus their attention on the Brazil 7s next week in Sao Paulo.