At the 2018 Lakefront 7s, Waukesha defeated Green Bay to take the top tag-rugby championship in the 7th-8th grade bracket (see full results below). The win earned Waukesha their second trophy of the day: they also captured first place in the 1st-2nd grade bracket.
Fond du Lac also won 2 championship trophies at the 2018 Lakefront 7s in the 3rd-4th and 5th-6th grade brackets.
In the 5th-6th championship match, Fond du Lac defeated Oshkosh in thrilling fashion. Tied after the regular-time had expired, it took 7 overtimes to declare a winner with Fond du Lac coming out ahead 11-10.
Heading into the 2018 Lakefront 7s, Milwaukee RFC held the record for the most championships in the modern era with four trophies since 2009. This past weekend they extended their record to five.
The day started well for MRFC with a 38-7 victory over Wisconsin Rugby Club (Madison, WI) in the first match of Pool A in the Men’s Competitive bracket. But they hit a bump in the road in their next match versus the Blues (Kansas City, MO) who won handily 24-7.
The loss made the 3rd pool match for MRFC a crucial one. Not only would they have to win the match but they would also need a huge point differential to win the necessary 4th-seed tie-break in a 12-team bracket. MRFC took this seriously with a well-deserved and comprehensive 54-7 win versus Des Moines (IA). The 47-point differential was just 3 points better than the next team with a 2-1 record (the Milwaukee Barbarians).
After narrowly making the playoff bracket, MRFC met the Heathens, a traveling side from Iowa. Having found their rhythm, MRFC continued to dominate and secured their first shut-out of the day with a 33-0 win.
In the other semi-final, the Blues met the Gazelles (Grand Rapids, MI) and racked 54-0 shut-out of their own to set up a pool-stage rematch versus MRFC.
In the championship match MRFC dominated both territory and possession to keep the Blues at bay. With few errors and constant pressure on defense, MRFC controlled all phases of the match. At the whistle, MRFC took the championship with a final score of 27-0. (more…)
Hailing all the way from Los Angeles, CA, the Sepi’s 7 team travelled to the Midwest to attend the Lakefront 7s for the first time.
Sepi’s 7 sailed through pool play with wins of 31-12, 31-0, and 28-5 over Reaper 7s (Minneapolis), Fox Cities (Appleton, WI), and Blaze (Chicago, IL).
In the fist semi-final, Sepi’s 7 put on an offensive clinic against NMU Moosemen (Marquette, MI), running up final score of 45-5. On the other side of the bracket Milwaukee RFC met local Wisconsin rivals Oconomowoc. This match was a bit closer, but MRFC won comfortably 28-12.
But as with most finals at the 2018 Lakefront 7s, taking the championship would be no walk in the park. Sepi’s 7 and MRFC traded scores until the full-time whistle sounded and the visitors from Los Angeles raised the trophy with a narrow 21-14 victory. (more…)
The Milwaukee Barbarians — tournament hosts and playing under the ‘BAR-barian’ moniker — swept the Men’s Open “A” bracket at the 2018 Lakefront 7s.
Despite having 5 teams entered in the event across all the Men’s brackets, the Barbarians cruised through pool play with a 3-0 record and an impressive point differential of 96: more than enough to capture the first seed!
In the first semi-final, the Barbarians met 4th-seeded Scorpions (Cape Girardeau, MO) who were making their Lakefront 7s debut and also went 3-0 in pool play. The match would be the closest contest for each team all day with just a conversion kick separating the two. At the final whistle, the Barbarians won 21-19 to advance to the championship.
The other semi-final saw Krakens — a Michigan-based touring side who have won the Men’s Open bracket 4 of the last 10 years — meet Lake County. The superior defense of the Krakens carried the team to a confident 19-7 victory.
The final was a close-contest with neither side willing to give much on defense. But in the end, the Barbarians out-scored Krakens two-tries to one seal the championship. (more…)
Chicago North Shore only gave up 2 tries on their way to victory at the 2018 Lakefront 7s and until the championship had dominated all their opponents.
In the championship match North Shore met the Kansas City Jazz in a low-scoring affair. With two tries to one, North Shore sealed the victory to take home their first trophy since 2012 when they placed first in the Elite/Qualifier bracket.
The trophy is the third Lakefront 7s championship for the Chicago-based team: they also won the Elite/Qualifier bracket in 2010. (more…)
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 Wisconsin Women’s RFC (Madison, WI) are the 2018 Champions in the Women’s Open “A” bracket.
A 3-0 record in pool play gave them the second seed in the playoff bracket. This paired them against local rivals Scylla. WWRFC took the match 19-10 but only 1 try separated the semi-finalists.
In the other semi-final the St. Louis Sabres (4th seed) met the Chicago Women for a pool-match repeat. This match was even closer than the first semi-final: each team scored two tries. But the Sabres — who has lost to Chicago in the earlier contest — advanced to the final on the back of two successful conversion kicks.
This set up an epic final that was another nail-biter. A single unconverted try gave WWRFC the edge in the match and ultimately 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…)
The Hawkettes — Iowa’s select-side program — captured the High School Girls Championship on Saturday.
Giving up only 2 tries, the Hawkettes cruised through pool play with a 3-0 record and a point differential of 98.
In the championship match they met Waukesha, an informal team made up of players who attend Catholic Memorial High. The Hawkettes scored first to go up 7-0, but Waukesha responded to tie it up 7-all. The Hawks the took the lead 14-7 when the referee awarded a penalty-try for a high-tackle.
Waukesha responded again with a converted try of their own and tied the match going into halftime.
The second half of the match was a defensive battle with neither team conceding points until the the last play of the match. The Iowa team broke through the defense to take the match with an unconverted try: final score 19-15 Hawkettes.
The win marks the third consecutive title for the Hawkettes. (more…)
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