With Tropical 7s in the books all of our player groupings have finally returned to action following the Covid hiatus. The Women and Girls returned to play at New York 7s over Thanksgiving weekend and the Men made their comeback at Freetail 7s over New Years. With the Boys back in action at Tropical we’ve now gotten everyone back up and running!
In the U18 Boys Elite division our Atlantis Elite had a strong performance in pool play with a 3-0 record and a plus 53 point differential while our Atlantis Black team went 1-2 but scored enough points to also earn a spot in quarterfinals. It just so happens that the two sides were matched up against each other in the quarters which guaranteed us one spot in the semifinals but also meant one of our sides wouldn’t be moving on. Atlantis Black put forth a strong effort but ultimately Elite was a little too experienced and earned a victory. Atlantis Elite unfortunately wasn’t able to bring home victory from there and had to settle for a fourth place finish while Atlantis Black split their remaining matches to finish in seventh place.
In the U16 Boys division we had a bit of a slow start with two losses but once the boys locked in they played great rugby and finished the weekend on a 4 match winning streak with the closest win being by 14 points. The U16Bs dominated the third place consolation pool with a plus 75 point differential in three matches and look set to really build on this foundation.
Our U18 Girls Elite team got off to a slow start with a 1-2 record in pool play but showed an ability to put points on the scoreboard and some flashes of things to come. Their point differential was enough to earn a spot in the quarterfinals against the undefeated Maui Wahine Warriors. Atlantis Elite played a fantastic match to earn a 29-7 victory and kept it up in the semifinals against Tsunami Canada in a 33-7 victory. Unfortunately they fell just short to Fallbrook 20-17 in the finals but it was all smiles from the players and a significant improvement from their 24-0 loss to Fallbrook the previous day.
Atlantis also featured a U18 Girls Open side which went 2-1 in pool play with a plus 68 point differential to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. Their opponent was Pasefika Hawaii- and unfortunately Atlantis wasn’t able to win this one. However, the U18Gs bounced back and ultimately finished in sixth place in a 16 team division.
Last but not least, Atlantis brought a U14 Girls team which played in a 7 team division where each team played each other once with no knockout rounds. The team went 3-2-1 with a plus 27 point differential to conclude a really fun and positive weekend for Atlantis Rugby!
We would like to give a huge thank you to all of our staff who helped on this trip. They include:
Lauren Shissler – U14 Girls Head Coach
Lauren Thunen – U14 Girls Assistant Coach
Kate Flanagan – U18 Girls Elite Head Coach
Tom Feury – U18 Girls Open Head Coach
KJ Feury – Medical/Manager
Lisa Henrich – Stats/Manager
Tim Jaques – U16 Boys Coach
Lou Raymond – U16 Boys Coach
Chase Schor – U16 Boys Coach
Jack Foley – U18 Boys Coach
Greg Schor – U18 Boys Coach
Marsh Pennington – U18 Boys Coach
Keith McLean – U18 Boys Coach
Dan Whetzel – Manager
Erik Elken – Assistant Manager (player for Conestoga unavailable on the field due to injury)
Rosters:
U14 Girls:
Peighton Bowman – North Bay
Abby Buratti – Morris
Rowan DeWet – Morris
Nolah Flynn – Doylestown
Sydney Haddon – Doylestown
Isabella Hoffman – CLT Cardinals
Mackenzie Marks – Morris
Teagan Mendel – Morris
Ellie Nurss – Moon Area
Giabella Romano – Carmel
U18 Girls Open:
Gabby Alegria – CLT Tigress
Maggie Austin - Doylestown
Becca Balladeres – MD Mauraders
Sophie Bonnici - Carmel
Chloe deLeon – Indy Speed
Ava Estright – Moon Area
Leila Galarza - Morris
Annie Huettel – North Bay
Anna Kugelman – Morris
Serayah Leech – Moon Area
Sydney Molaski – Carmel
Caitlin Moroney – Morris
U18 Girls Elite:
Alayshja Bable – Moon Area/West Pitt
Caroline Cook – CLT Tigress
Maddy Doyle – Doylestown
Cassidy Dugdale – Torrey Pines
Annie Henrich – Orchard Park
Liz Johnston – Doylestown
Reaghan King – Doylestown
Lennox London – CLT Tigress
Coco Nate – Indy Speed
Trina Rizzotto – Jaguars
Lacey Smithson – North Bay
Celia Watson – Carmel
U16 Boys:
Jake Andre – St. Augustine
Matt Cleland – Doylestown
PJ Degnan – St. Augustine
Liam Gray – Palm Beach
Benjimin Hartzell – Cumberland Valley
Jerry Karcewski – Downingtown
Caius Michlitsch – Conestoga
Luke Pajan – Malvern Prep
Kyran Rautenbach – North Pitt
Tyler Sauers – Downingtown
Riley Scrogham – Glendale Raptors/Denver East
Patrick Walker – Conestoga
U18 Boys Elite:
Logan Ballinger – Boca Bucs
Michael Boyle – LaSalle
Ryan Cammarata – Conestoga
Matthew Kelly – LaSalle
Aidan Rutledge – Wellington
Jaime Rivera – Blackthorn
Riordan Sweet – Hammerhead
Jordan Vassel – Boca Bucs
Joe Verrekia – Malvern Prep
Tiave Watts – St. James
Jack Wierzbowski – Doylestown
Ka’Ron Young – Wellington
U18 Boys Black:
Burke Battenfield – St. Piux X
Kevin Corso – LaSalle
Jeffrey George – St. Augustine
Charles Hartman – Coventry
Pierce Hillabrant – Morris
Erik Long – Berks County
Travis Pesek – St. Pius X
Timothy Bryce Petrilli – LaSalle
Presley Sayavong – Wellington
Michael Vallorani – Salesianum
Michael Williams – West Carroll