GRR on X  GRR on Facebook GRR in Instagram GRR Vimeo Library GRR on YouTube RuggaMatrix America Podcasts Support GRR on Patreon

Arizona Wins West Coast 7s

irish rugby tours

Arizona Wins West Coast 7s

Arizona prevailed against Saint Mary's twice. Michael Geib photo.

The University of Arizona won the two-day West Coast 7s tournament at Treasure Island in San Francisco Sunday, beating Saint Mary’s in the final.

Photos Michael Geib.
West Coast 7s October 22-23 2016. Michael Geib photo. West Coast 7s October 22-23 2016. Michael Geib photo.
West Coast 7s October 22-23 2016. Michael Geib photo. West Coast 7s October 22-23 2016. Michael Geib photo.
West Coast 7s October 22-23 2016. Michael Geib photo. West Coast 7s October 22-23 2016. Michael Geib photo.
West Coast 7s October 22-23 2016. Michael Geib photo. West Coast 7s October 22-23 2016. Michael Geib photo.

The tournament was full of exciting and surprising games, and the semifinals and final were a perfectly dramatic end to the weekend.

After Day One, Cal, Arizona, UCLA, and Arizona State all came through unbeaten. Arizona showed a look at what was to come, unleashing some aggressive, hard running and good ball movement. But more than that, the Wildcats were patient, content to let Saint Mary’s make tackles (which they did quite well) until the scoring opportunity presented itself.

On to Sunday, then, and the knockout rounds. The big news came in the quarterfinals, when a hard-driving, physical UC Davis team defeated Cal. The Cal team was made up of freshmen and sophomores, but they were still very good freshmen and sophomores. The 12-0 UC Davis shutout was the talk of the tournament.

Unfortunately tor the UCD Aggies, that was the highlight of their day, as they struggled to maintain possession and ended up fourth. 

In the semis, then, Arizona wasn’t particular astounding, but Davis wasn’t all that great, either - repeatedly fumbling away attacking penalty opportunities, and the Wildcats prevailed. The other semi was fun to watch, as Arizona State challenged the Saint Mary’s defense again and again. But Saint Mary’s scored two key clutch tries. With time up at halftime, the Gaels turned the ball over and managed to set free Anthony Rodriguez for a key, game-tying score.

Saint Mary’s took the lead, but then yellow cards to each side ended up favoring ASU, as they worked the ball patiently to the line and Alex Sandstrom got over for a 14-12 lead.

Time seemed to be up, and all Arizona State needed to do was run out the clock. But a turnover in the breakdown set up a nice team break for the Gaels, and Alec Barton was the last man in a four-player line of passes, and scored in the corner. There was one more chance for Arizona State, but Saint Mary’s held on 17-14.

In the final, Arizona worked the ball impressively and ran out to a 14-0 lead. Saint Mary’s got into penalty trouble - at one point being down to five players - and Arizona held on 1912.

 

Day 1

UCLA 17 WWU 0

Cal 29 SD State 7

Air Force 19 Cal Poly 5

Santa Clara 22 Grand Canyon 14

Saint Mary’s 28 UCSB 0

Arizona State 41 SF State 7

Arizona 14 SD State 10

UC Davis 12 Utah 10

UCLA 36 Cal Poly 5

Grand Canyon 36 U. San Diego 5

WWU 20 Air Force 19

Arizona 28 UCSB 0

Saint Mary’s 21 SD State 12

Cal 29 Santa Clara 7

Arizona State 19 UC Davis 12

Utah 43 SF State 7

SD State 28 UCSB 0

WWU 12 Cal Poly 5

UC Davis 46 SF State 0

Arizona State 29 Utah 0

UCLA 24 Air Force 14

Cal 26 Grand Canyon 5

 

Cup QFs

Cal 0 UC Davis 12

Arizona 17 WWU 0

UCLA 7 Saint Mary’s 31

Arizona State 26 Santa Clara 19

 

Bowl QFs

Grand Canyon 17 SF State 7

SD State 24 Cal Poly 5

Air Force 28 UCSB 0

Utah 31 U. San Diego 7

 

Plate SFs

Cal 29 WWU 0

Santa Clara 14 UCLA 12

 

Cup SFs

Arizona 14 UC Davis 5

Saint Mary’s 17 Arizona 14

 

Bowl SFs

Grand Canyon 24 SD State 22

Utah 33 Air Force 14

 

Shield SFs

Cal Poly 17 SF State 12

 

 

15th: SF State

 

Shield Final

Cal Poly 19 U. San Diego 15

 

11th/12th

SD State 22 Air Force 5

 

Bowl Final

Utah 25 Grand Canyon 19

 

7th/8th 

WWU 24 UCLA 17

 

Plate Final

Cal 32 Santa Clara 0

 

3rd/4th

Arizona 36 UC Davis 0

 

Cup Final

Arizona 19 Saint Mary’s 14