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Bay Area Teams Scramble for Make-Ups

  • 10 May 2021
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Carondelet’s Julia Jarrett tackles Lamo’s Neti Tuavao / Photo: Jackie Finlan

A quartet of teams were active in Rugby NorCal’s Bay Area, thanks to some last-minute shuffling. Covid-19 exposures meant two Sacramento-area teams could not compete, but the opposition that was cleared to play coordinated a game against each other.

RELATED: Fixtures & Games: May 7-9

Lamorinda traveled to the beautiful Carondelet Athletic Complex in Walnut Creek for a 10s match Friday evening. Lamorinda won comfortably, as a combination of size, mobility and connectivity through contact produced a flowing game that was tough to stop. To boot, Lamorinda won most of the scrums, whether its put-in or not, translating to a lot of possession.

Siniva Tuavao and Mya Dunne scored three tries apiece, and Dunne also handled kicking duties. Lizbeth Figueroa, Seini Fetokai and Neti Tuavao were also among the try-scorers.


Photo: Jackie Finlan / TRB

Everyone touched the ball and challenged the defense, and many had the opportunity to score points, and Neti Tuavao, older sister to Siniva, was at the center of it all. The senior ran and tackled with confidence and skill, and was a massive playmaker in the 54-7 win. Dunne, too, was good about creating opportunities, a highlight being an intercept try off a Carondelet penalty play.

But the Cougars weren’t without. The team struggled in its tackling completion, but Julia Jarrett did not hesitate off the line and leaned into every collision. Freshman Olivia Mazoleweski also used her speed in defense, meeting ballcarriers behind the line and putting a ton of pressure on the restarts. But it was with ball in hand where Mazoleweski really stood out. The soccer player has fantastic pace, a very good step, and made the most of any attacking opportunity. From a Lamorinda drop 22, Mazoleweski gathered the ball, sidestepped her chaser, and returned a very fast try in the first half.


Olivia Mazoleweski / Photo: Jackie Finlan

All in all, the teams were grateful for the game, because it would have been idle weekend otherwise.

Bishop O’Dowd hosted Pleasanton and Danville, which have combined for this season, in two-in-a-half 7s matches Saturday night. The Oaks’ Win Shortland is overseeing the temporarily joint program, as the Cavaliers’ coaching staff is in flux (notably, long-time head coach Steve Lopez has relocated to Oregon for work).


Photo: Jackie Finlan

The two teams were evenly matched, tying the first game 19-all and the second game going 19-15 to the Oaks/Cavaliers. Bishop O’Dowd took a 14-0 lead in the “5th half,” and the visitors answered with seven points before what ended up being the final final buzzer. Had one more half been played, it probably would have followed the trend of the previous four: hotly contested.

GAME 1

Cindy Taulava scored twice in the first half. The first came after an Emma Chang breakaway and feed back inside for the try. The Oaks/Cavaliers then stole a ruck near mid-field and Taulava finished with a power run to the line. Chang’s conversion afforded a 12-0 halftime lead, but then hometown Bishop O’Dowd surged after the break. Ysa Lucero, who was very good about creating opportunities for teammates, scored after the Dragons recovered a mishandled kickoff.


Photo: Jackie Finlan

Vanessa Ortiz-Pallen (above, in the tackle) followed with her first try on the day. The junior flyhalf is so influential in and around the ball, and is a tone-setter for contact.

Danville/Pleasanton was shown a yellow card for a high tackle, and with that advantage, the Dragons were able to steal a scrum in attacking territory. Scrumhalf Laila Hannum scored the team’s third try. With her two previous conversions, the home side led 15-12 with little time left on the clock. But the visitors kept pushing, and moved a turnover ball to newcomer Bray Travis, who blasted through multiple defenders for the centered try. Chang’s conversion tied the game at 19, and that’s how the first game ended.


Photo: Jackie Finlan

GAME 2

The second match also had lead changes. Leilah Vulavalavu stripped the ball out of the tackle and returned it for the opening try. She along with Taulava have the size and power to be influential at this age, but they both have very good catch-pass that makes them very dangerous, in the best way. Chang converted, and then Ortiz-Pallen and Catherine Otuhiva dotted down back-to-back scores to go ahead 10-7 into the break.

The Oaks/Cavaliers ran out the back after what should have been a breakaway try but the subsequent drop 22 didn’t travel very far and Taulava was able to return it for five, 12-10 to the visitors. Lucero erased the deficit with one more Dragons try, 15-12, and as the teams assembled for the restart, the referee announced that there was one play left in the match. BOD’s restart wasn’t going to go 10 but the Oaks/Cavs’ winger smartly scooped up the ball and burst onto a hesitating defense. The ball eventually made it to Chang, who scored and converted for the 19-15 win.


Photo: Jackie Finlan

5TH HALF

The Dragons had all the momentum in the final period, as Lucero tore through the middle and then quickly popped to her feet from the tackle to buy time as support arrived. When it did, Ortiz-Pallen was there for the final meters and try, which Hannum converted. The scrumhalf then capitalized on a penalty, tapping quickly through the mark and breaking tackles for a try that she also converted: 14-0. Vulavalavu replicated the effort, busting through tackles and then quickly regrouping after the tackle for the Oaks/Cavaliers’ score.

Yona Allouche converted the try, 14-7 the final, and earned high praise from Shortland. The 14-year-old is coachable, driven and keen to play, and along with wing Aiden Bursey and soccer convert Kendall Cunningham, represents promise in the younger class.

Rugby NorCal games are scheduled into early June, so stay tuned for more local coverage. For more photos from the aforementioned match, visit TRB’s Instagram @therugbybreakdown.

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