UCF Player Kiki McNight scores vs. U-20 Bahamas team
Congratulation Kiki on your great play vs. the U-20′s Bahamas team keep up the hard work!
For Immediate Release August 17, 2010
USA Rugby U20 Women Crush Carribean Senior Side
Two individual records broken in the 85-0 USA victory in the Bahamas.
NASSAU, Bahamas – The U20 Women’s National Team won their opening game in the 2010 North American Caribbean Rugby Association Championships as they defeated a spirited Cayman Islands Senior Women’s side by a score of 85-0. Kick off was pushed back by thirty minutes due to heavy rain and lightening, but the U20s were clearly unfazed by the delay. From the opening kick off they strung together a flowing multi-phase attack that saw ten different players touch the ball before a knock on in the Cayman red zone brought the play to a halt. Two plays later, Bui Baravilala went on the first of many hard-charging runs of the day and went in under the posts for the first try. Chelsea Garber kicked the conversion and the USA was up seven points. The U20s struck again right from the kick off as several of the American forwards were linking well on attack and keeping the ball moving before lock Alycia Washington offloaded to Kiki McKnight who beat a couple of defenders to touch down for the second try.
The Cayman team plays predominately sevens rugby and they had a difficult time adjusting to the hard-running American forwards. With a strong pack moving the ball forward, the U20 WNT backs had plenty of space to launch their attack. As a result, the U20s scampered over the try line six more times, going into halftime with a healthy lead.
The coaches of the American side used all the reserves in the second half as they took the opportunity to experiment with some different combinations. The Junior Eagles scored another five tries in the second half along with five conversions from Chelsea Garber and Bui Baravilala took the final score to 85-0.
Head Coach Bryn Chivers was pleased with the result but was cautiously optimistic about the team’s upcoming games. “The team played well tonight but we saw the Canadians look equally impressive against the Caribbean Select Side. It’s easy for a young team to let down after a big win and the Caribbean women have the size and speed to cause us some problems if the players don’t stay focused”. Chiver’s was pleased with the performance of several players such as Chelsea Garber from Brown University and Bui Barivilala from Hawaii. “All the vets played well and several of the rookies stood out. Bui was a force all game and scored a couple of nice tries. But it was Chelsea Garber who was the revelation. With Garher at flyhalf, we wanted to test the move to fullback, which was a big experiment for us. She turned in a great all around performance.”
While Garber’s total of twenty-five points (3 tries, 5 conversions) in the game made her the top point-scorer for a single U20 game and in total points for the U20 WNT program, it was another milestone that was Coach Chiver’s highlight of the game. “We were all excited for Peach (Haley Anderson) as her try tonight made her the youngest American woman to ever score a try in an international game.”
The U20 Women will play their next game against the Caribbean Select Side who lost their opening game to the Canada U20’s. For updates from Coach Chivers, visit the team blog: http://womeneaglesu20s.blogspot.com/
Tries: Chelsea Garber (3), Bui Baravilala (2), Katie Johnson (2), Kiki McNight (2), Ann Marie Bowlus, Candace Barley, Haley Anderson, Wendy Sherman, Katie Hathaway.
1 Kelly Sager Penn State (Replaced by Sherman)
2 Rachel Ryan U of Wyoming (Replaced by Hathaway)
3 Andee Samborski Livingstone, MI
4 Alycia Washington U Conn
5 Brittany Rose Unattached (Replaced by Humphreys)
6 McKenzie Lewis Mesa State
7 Katie Johnson Hopkins, MN (Replaced by Gessner)
8 Candace Barley Lee Univeristy (Replaced by Svatos)
9 Haley Anderson Summit, CO
10 Hannah Lockwood Oregon State
11 Holly Zoeller U of North Carolina (Replaced by O’Brien)
12 Bui Baravilala Aliamanu, Hawaii
13 Kiki McKnight U of Central Florida
14 Anne Marie Bowlus U of California – Santa Cruz
15 Chelsea Garber Brown
16 Mileka Grager (injured) Washington State
17 Wendy Sherman Colorado State
18 Katie Hathaway Norwich
19 Katie Humphreys Kent, WA
20 Amee Svatos Canby, OR
21 Brittany O’Brien U of Rhode Island
22 Jozy Gessner Colorado State. Inspiring America to fall in love with Rugby
Jarrod Beckstrom | Interim Director of Communications & Public Relations | USA Rugby
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W: 303.539.0300 x124 | C: 303.501.9692 | Fax: 303.539.0311 Follow the Women’s National Rugby Team as they prepare for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in London!
Pool Play
Friday, Aug. 20 – USA vs. Kazakhstan
Tuesday, Aug. 24 – USA vs. Ireland
Saturday, Aug. 28 – USA vs. England
