The Lakefront 7s has a casual policy when it comes to who can sign up for the divisions. Sometimes teams are well-matched, and other times not.
In the High School divisions we try to separate select sides into separate divisions. But this year only two select sides registered —the Iowa Hawks and Wisconsin’s Badger Selects. Not surprisingly, each swept their pools with 3-0-0 records and comfortably defeated their semifinal opponents.
In the final though, it was all Iowa, scoring 4 unanswered tries on their way to the championship with a 28-0 victory over Wisconsin.
The Iowa Hawks — Iowa’s select-side team — waited a full year to get a rematch against Mystic River (Boston, MA) in the High School Boys Cup division.
Having lost 21-12 to Mystic in the 2018 elite final, the Hawks went undefeated in pool play this year and were seeded 3rd in the Cup semi-finals. They defeated the Badger Selects 26-12 to reach the final.
But 4th-seeded Mystic River were out-matched this year and fell to the Hawks 24-5, a 3-try margin.
In the Plate Championship, A-Team — the debutantes from Ankeny, IA — were victorious over the Freeborn Eagles (Albert Lea, MN) in a close contest. With just a single try between the two, A-Team finished the day on top with a 19-14 scoreline.
The day didn’t begin as planned for the Warriors (Naperville, IL). In their first match of the day, they ran into a wall of red, white, and blue as the Freeborn Eagles (Albert Lea, MN) edged a 28-26 win.
To their credit, Naperville re-focused and won their next two pool matches to earn the third seed going into playoffs. In their semi-final, they met the River Rats (Elgin, IL) and notched a solid 24-14 win.
In the other semi-final, 4th-seeded Eagan upset the Freeborn Eagles by the closest of margins: a 15-14 win!
But Naperville — who’s quality continued to improve throughout the day — would prove too strong for Eagan. Running in 5 tries, Naperville won the match 35-17 and took home the championship. (more…)
The 6-team High School Boys Elite bracket was chosen from the select- and international-sides that registered for the Lakefront 7s this year. It include international sides like Consett RFC (UK) and Canadian players playing with Mystic River — playing under Mystical Canucks — who won the bracket in 2016.
However, the Mystical Canucks did not have an easy path to the championship. Having lost a pool match to the Iowa Hawks, they entered the playoff bracket as 4th-seed to meet undefeated Badger Selects 1 (Wisconsin select-side).
But the semi-final is where the visitors found their groove, defeating the local outfit 24-10 and setting up a repeat of the pool-stage match versus the Hawks.
As in the earlier match only 1 try separated the teams at the final whistle. But this time, Mystical Canucks had the extra score to take the championship. (more…)
