2008 ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM: MARFU U23 LAU ALL STAR CHAMPIONSHIPS

A personal thank you to all the players, coaches, selectors, referees, and to our hosts Philadelphia Women for a great LAU Tournament this weekend!

Congratulations to the VRU for their tournament win, and to the MARFU U-19s for a very competitive first tournament appearance!

After reviewing all the input from the coaches and selectors, the following players have been named to the MARFU U23 LAU All Star Championship "All Tournament Team". These players represent, positionally, the strongest 22 players over the course of the weekend as identified by the MARFU U23 program staff and LAU coaches. As competition was very tight, we have also identified 5 "Honorable Mentions".

Congratulations to all the players! Invitations to the MARFU U23 Spring Developmental Venue will follow in a few days.

Front Row
Molly Walter (VRU - Mary Washington)
Nicole Muraglia (U19s - LaSalle)
Lauren Herbert (U19s - Shippensburg)
Kristin Lucas (VRU - UVA)

Second Row
Ugochi Madubata (EPRU - Princeton)
Sara Schmidt (VRU - UVA)
Laura Miller (PRU - SMCM)

Back Row
Katie Hunt (EPRU - Temple)
Megan Ginley (VRU - Virginia Tech)
Brittany McKenna (U19 - LaSalle)
Allison Floyd (EPRU - LaSalle)

Scrumhalf
Rachel Winters (VRU - UVA)
Shannon Lane (U19 - Shippensburg)

Inside Backs
Stephanie Chubbs (U19 -UVA)
Melissa Hutchinson (EPRU - Shippensburg)
Moira Somerdyk (EPRU - Temple)
Erica Cavanaugh (VRU - UVA)

Back Triangle
Bellany Reese (VRU - Virginia Tech)
Kimberly Lane (EPRU - UDel)
Natalie Monroig (EPRU - Shippensburg)
Sharlyn Carter (VRU - UVA)

Utility
Rachel Miller (VRU - UVA)

HONORABLE MENTION
Kaitlin Reilly (VRU - JMU)
Emily Callaghan - (EPRU - York)
Angela Yu - (EPRU - Princeton)
Tanya Gouws (PRU - Exiles)
Kate Rada (U19 - Westchester)


Respectfully,

Lisa E. Rosen
Head Coach, MARFU U23 Women's All Stars

Some match highlights from NASCs ,,,,

MARFU U23 v PACIFIC U23 - Tier 1 Semi (MARFU 15, Pacific 0)

Try #1 v Pacific U23. Pacific launches a powerful forward attack out of their own end, looking to clear. The clearing kick is blocked, MARFU gains possession, and the ball is transfered through Alison Wormans hands (flanker, PSU) to Megan Newton (fullback, JMU) who stiffarms two defenders to score the try.


Try #2 v Pacific U23. Julia Swavola (flanker, JMU) poaches in her own end, pitches to Kara Bodison (lock, PSU) who pins the first defender and put's Steph (wing, Westchester) away for a 90 meter try.


Try #3 v Pacific U23. Annie Ziegler (Scrumhalf, PSU) moves the ball to Megan Newton (flyhalf, JMU), who moves the ball to Natalie Monroig (Fullback, Shippensburg) who slices through the defense to score with Danielle Monica (Wing, Temple) in support.


MARFU U23 v MIDWEST U23 - Tier 1 Championship (MARFU 29, Midwest 0)

Try #1 v Midwest U23. Off a driving lineout, Katy Black( prop, Westchester) peels off the back and is shut down just short of the tryzone. Kara Bodison (lock, PSU) is in support, picks, and dives in for the try.


Try #2 v Midwest U23. Kate Daley (#8, PSU) picks off the back of a solid scrum and dashs strong for the try.


Try #3 v Midwest U23. Kate Daley (#8, PSU) picks off the back of a solid scrum and dashs weak for the try.



Try # 4 v Midwest U23. From a scrum, the backs run a blind side attack using Danielle Monica (Temple). She is well defended, but in the follow up forward attack sequence, after several phases, Blythe Hagan (Lock, Brandywine) dives in for the score.


Try #5 v Midwest U23. Midwest lose the ball in their own end, and MARFU move it sketchily through the hands. Moira Somerdky (center, Temple) powers through the defenders and touches down for the final try of the game.


Scrum tackle tackle poach kick catch run


A Midwest driving lineout is foiled


COLLISION: Moira vs Schmarrah




A nice kick reception sequence

MARFU U23 Takes 2nd Straight NASC Title!

The 2008 MARFU U23 squad put up two scoreless performances to claim their 2nd straight Under- 23 National All Star Championship title.

In round one, MARFU faced a very physical Pacific team. The scoring was opened up by JMU fullback Meghan Newton, who downed the ball in the corner after several phases open up space wide. Meghan was able to hand-off the last defenders and put herself in.

After the first half, MARFU used their forwards to increase the pace of the game, and slowly began opening space. Pacific did not back down, and after a string penalties pinned MARFU in their own end, it looked like Pacific might tie it up. The tide turned when JMU's Julia Swavola poached Pacific ball out of a ruck, and PSU lock Kara Bodison quickly moved the ball to Westchester's Steph Burkhardt, who has space in front of her. Steph dashed to the undefended Pacific try zone, using a subtle angle change to beat the chasing Pacific fullback in a 95 meter footrace.

MARFU's last try occurred after solid scrum with a right hand bling. Flyhalf Megan Newton ran right, recived the ball from Annie Ziegler and transfered it quickly to inserting Shippensburg fullback Natalie Monriog. As the Pacific defense slid to cover Daniell on the wing, Natalie attacked the seam between the defenders and swerved past the last Pacific player to ground the ball. The score was now 15-0, where it would remain.

After pool recovery/video session on Saturday morning, the team took the afternoon off to decompress, rest their bodies, and mentally prepare for Sunday.

The Midwest defeated Southern Cal 25-7 to win a berth in the Championship, and MARFU knew they'd have to fix some things to be successful. After our video session we agreed that our scrum engagements needed to be faster, our ball placement and rucking more precise, and our defense would need to vastly improve. The team gathered early in the morning to walk through defensive fixes and put in place communication cues to keep us on task and honest in defense.

Quickly after the kickoff it was apparent the Midwest was going to be hard and physical, and that they would look to play a continuous vertical game. Our defensive alignment, positioning, and pace were vastly improved, which resulted in several midwest turnovers behind the gain line. Through the first few minutes of the game MARFU was on defense, but managed to push the Midwest attack further and further towards their 22. Finally, MARFU had a short lineout in their attacking 22. The ball was caught nicely by Kara, and a big drive from Katy Black saw her explode off the back of the lineout. A quick ruck ensured, an Kara picked the ball of the base and dove in for the first try of the game. The try was converted by Natalie Monroig.

MARFU continued thier pressure off the ensuing kickoff, and soon found themselves with a left side 5 meter scrum. Off a beautiful driving platform, PSU's Kate Daley picked to the strong side and dived tryzone for MARFU's second try. The try was also converted by Natalie.

The Midwest continued it's pressure, but MARFU's defense was able to force Midwest into playing backwards. When a Midwest handling error gave MARFU it's second 5 meter scrum of the first half, number 8 Kate Daley switched things up, this time going week off the drive to ground the ball. MARFU 19, MIDWEST 0.

After the half MARFU continued to see the pass in the forwards. After an attempted running blind side attack was foiled, the forwards move the ball up the far sidelines. With the goal line in site, lock Blyth Hagan this time picked and dived for MARFU's 4th try.

As the game wound down and the Midwest began to show it's fatigue, MARFU used its backs to stretch the defense and force the Midwest forwards to run. After several barely-made-it-passes, powerful center Moira Somerdyk recieved a ball wide and dove between two Midwest defenders's into the tryzone. Final score: MARFU U23 29, MIDWEST U23 0.

Selections for NASC 2008 - Updated

To all the players who participated, thank you for your tremendous effort over the past few weeks. See below the selections for the MARFU U23 Squad and Territorial Development Squad that will compete in the National All Star Championships.

Special thanks to all the coaches, selectors & managerial types who assisted in the process. THANK YOU!!


MARFU U23
Katy Black - Westchester University
Kara Bodison - Penn State University
Steph Burkhardt - Westchester University
Kate Daley - Penn State University
Alli Dolan - Philadelphia Women
Megan "Chuggs" Godfrey - Westchester University
Blythe Hagan - Brandywine Women
Lisa Hrunka - Shippensburg University
Melissa Hutchison - Shippensburg University
Meral Kanik - Penn State University
Monique McQueen - Virginia Commonwealth University
Danielle Monica - Temple University
Natalie Monrig - Shippensburg University
Megan Newton - James Madison University
Brittany Rienman - Shippensburg University
Lauren Rosso - Penn State University
Sara Shanley - Virginia Commonwealth University
Kerilee "KL" Shuey - Shippensburg University
Kristen "Orah" Snyder - Penn State University
Moira Summerdyke - Temple University
Julia Swavola - James Madison University
Kate Welter - Georgetown University (Injured Reserve)
Alison Worman - Penn State University
Annie Ziegler - Penn State University


MARFU U23 Alternates/Territorial Development Team
Dominique Bunai - Virginia Tech University
Stephanie Hallman - Drexel University
Heather Stephenson - Brandywine Women
Kate "TK" Hallinan - Philadelphia Women

2008 MARFU U-23 Pool

Congratulations to the following players. These athletes will represent the MARFU U23 All Stars on May 31th in matches against the NRU and MARFU Senior Developmental teams, in preparation for the 2008 National All Star Championship.

At that time players will be further identified for the MARFU U23 NASC team, and for the territorial development team. Players were identified at a variety of events, including the LAU Round Robin Tournament, the MARFU U23 Developmental Team, Sunday's Open Tryouts, and the National Championship tournament.

Alison Worman - Penn State
Alli Dolan - Philadelphia Women
Amber "Sass" Morgan - Virginia Tech
Annie Zeigler - Penn State
Blythe Hagen - Brandywine Women
Brittany Rineman - Shippensburg
Danielle Monica - Temple
Dominique Bunai - Virginia Tech
Heather Stephenson - Brandywine Women
Julie Swavola - James Madison
Kara Bodison - Penn State
Kate Daley - Penn State
Katie "TK" Hallinan - Philadelphia Women
Katy Black - Westchester
Katy Welter (injured reserve) - Georgetown
Kerilee "KL" Shuey - Shippensburg
Kristen Snyder - Penn State
Lauren Rosso - Penn State
Lauren Waltz - Princeton
Lisa Hrunka - Shippensburg
Maria "MR" Muscara - LaSalle
Megan "Chuggs" Godfrey - Westchester
Megan Newton - James Madison
Melissa Hutchison - Shippensburg
Meral Kanik - Penn State
Moira Somerdyk - Temple
Monique McQueen - Virginia Tech
Natalie Monroig - Shippensburg
Nicole "Vegan" Coffineau - Virginia Tech
Sara Shanley - Virginia Commonwealth
Sherilyn Villa - American
Steph Burkhardt - Westchester
Steph Petrides - American

Open Tryouts May 18th 2008 - Directions and Details

Open tryout! The Mid Atlantic U23 Women's All Star team are the 2007 USA Rugby U23 National All Star Champions. The 2008 NASC will be held in Pittsburgh, Pa June 13 - 15.

This is a open tryout - no recommendations are required. If you are unable to attend this tryout but still wish to be considered for the MARFU U23 team, please contact Lisa directly.

Players attending should be fit, have a solid grasp of fundamental rugby skills, and aspire to a higher level of competition.

Selected players will be invited to train and play training matches against MARFU II (Senior) and NRU II (Senior) on May 31, 2008.

Confirmation, while not required, is recommended. You can confirm via email, or via our facebook invitation - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=24489371088

Please bring water, a bag lunch, and any snacks you might need. If you need taping, please bring your own supplies.

Directions:
Sunday's tryouts will be at the UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore Campus). Cleats on ready to train at 9:30. THERE IS NO RESTROOM AT THIS FACILITY SO PLEASE MAKE A BIO STOP PRIOR TO ARRIVAL.

directions to the field...

From the North:
Take I-95 south, toward Baltimore
Take exit 47B, on to MD Route 166, toward Catonsville
Take the first exit toward UMBC Campus
Go straight through the first stop sign
Bear right at the next intersection, on to Hilltop Circle
Turn Right on to Poplar Ave.
Turn Right on to Shellbourne Road
The field is on the right, directly across from Arbutus Middle School
There is a gravel parking lot just before the field


From the North:
Take I-95 North, toward Baltimore
Take exit 47B, on to MD Route 166, toward Catonsville
Take the first exit toward UMBC Campus
Go straight through the first stop sign
Bear right at the next intersection, on to Hilltop Circle
Turn Right on to Poplar Ave.
Turn Right on to Shellbourne Road
The field is on the right, directly across from Arbutus Middle School
There is a gravel parking lot just before the field

The following link will show the field clearly, note that the arrow is not precisely in front of
Arbutus middle school building.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=arbutus+middle+schoo
215.421.1823.

Belated: MARFU U23 Developmental team at Ruggerfest

I know I'm late posting, so my apologies to everyone for the delay ...

Three weeks ago the MARFU U-23 Women's All Star program entered a developmental team into the DC Furies Ruggerfest tournament.

We played two women's club sides on Saturday, coming out of our first game with a squeaker of a win against a terrific Norfolk side, and then faced Chesapeake women in our second match, winning by 4 tries.

That put us in the semi-finals on Sunday against the Maryland Stingers, a D1 area club side. We came out strong, with wing Rachel Miller blazing into the tryzone after a quick turnover ball, but the experience and physicallity of the Maryland side proved too much for us to overcome. In the end they got the best of us by 4 tries, in a game that really

Though it was disappointing not to make the finals, it was a great experience for everyone. Seeing the performance and team camaraderie develop and improve as the weekend unfolded was quite the positive experience. This was a very young MARFU team, with only a few veteran players (*). Congrats to everyone involved, but especially to :

Moira Somerdyk, MVP Back
Stephanie Petrides, MVP Forward
Nicole Coffineau, Most Improved Player
Amber "Sass" Morgan, Most Impactful

Also, special thanks to Katy Welter and Sheri Villa, our captains, and to Emily Sabato, our hard working manager, and to Catholic University, for use of their practice field.

(Congratulations to Shippensburg University, who several players slated to attend, but instead brought home a D2 National Championship!)

MARFU U23 Developmental:

Sarah Buhlam (front row) - Chesapeake, PRU
Brittany Buffalino (flyhalf, center)- LaSalle, EPRU
Dominique Bunai (back row) - Virginia Tech, VRU
Nicole "Carrot aka Vegan" Coffieneu (second row) - Virginia Tech, VRU
Allison Dolan (front row) - Philadelphia Women, EPRU
Alison Floyd (second row) - LaSalle, EPRU
Kate "TK" Hallinan (wing) - Philadelphia Women, EPRU
Lauren McLaughlin (wing) - Temple, EPRU
Brittany McKenna (fullback, wing) - LaSalle, EPRU
Rachel Miller (wing) - University of Virginia, VRU
Amber "Sass" Morgan (front row) - Virginia Tech, VRU
Maria "MR" Muscara (center) - LaSalle, EPRU
Kaitlin Parliman (front row, second row) - Temple, ERPU
Stephanie Petrides (back row) - American, PRU
Beleny Reese (wing )- Virginia Tech, VRU
Meghan "Football" See (front row) - Virginia Tech, VRU
Sarah Shanley (scrum half) - Virginia Commonwealth, VRU
Moira Somerdyk (center) - Temple, EPRU
Shannon Sulkovsky (back row, lock) - Kutztown, EPRU
Sherri Villa (back row & captain) - American, PRU
Rachel Von Vital (scrum half, wing) - Temple, ERPU
Katy Welter (fullback & captain) - Georgetown

Staff:
Lisa Rosen - Head Coach
Roshna Wunderlich - Asst. Coach
Chris Herrmann - Asst. Coach
Kristin Aliberto - Asst. Coach
Emily Sabato - Manager

DATE CHANGE: SPECIALTY CLINIC: Evasive Running, Playmaking, and Open Field Support

DATE CHANGE:

The MARFU U23 progam will be hosting a specialty clinic for U23 players on Sunday, April 6, 2008, at Edgely Field, 33rd and Diamond Street, Fairmount Park, in Philadelphia PA.


Registration: 9:30 - 10:00
Warmup and Morning sessions: 10:00 - 12:00
Lunch 12:00 - 12:30
Afternoon Session: 12:30 - 2:00
Host Contact: Ginger Stringer, EPRU U23 (email phillyrugger@gmail.com)

Players need to bring lunch, snacks, water, appropriate rugby gear, and $5 to cover overhead costs.

Confirmation with MARFU U23 Head Coach Lisa Rosen (email coachingrugby@gmail.com) is recommended, but not required.

This specialty clinic, will benefit any player looking to improve their evasive running, decision making, and support skills.

Both College and High School players are encouraged to attend.

If your rugby program is interested in hosting a speciality clinic, please contact Lisa directly.

Tentative 2008 Tryout Schedule

Here are the dates for spring 2008 try outs. This year instead of 1 2 day event, we're going to have 2 one day events, and one training weekend after selections for the NASC. We've made this change in an effort to resolve graduation conflicts. There is no single day or location that's good for all the colleges in MARFU, providing two separate dates should help mitigate the problem. Players may go to either open tryout, or both. Players are not limited to the tryout in their region, both dates are open for everyone.

May 11th: Open tryout #1; James Madison University, Virginia Rugby Union, 9:30 - 4:00
May 18th: Open tryout #2; Potomac Rugby Union (exact pitch location TBD), 9:30 - 4:00
May 19th: Selections announced for NASC.
May 31st: Team Prep & Match; Philadelphia PA, Morning practice; afternoon match vs MARFU Senior Developmental.
June 10th - 15th: National All Star Championships.

Scrummaging clinic at James Madison University

The MARFU U23 Head Coach, Lisa Rosen, will be conducting a scrummaging clinic on Sunday, Feb 10th at James Madison University. Registration will be at 9:45 AM; the clinic will start at 10 AM and go until 2 PM.

This clinic will be open to all female U23 and U19 players.

This scrummaging clinic will cover a variety of areas - core strength, balance, agility and strength for scrummaging, specific roles of the 8, 2, and flankers, pre-engagement setup, engagement and post engagement techniques, application of pressure, and secondary drive.

Groups that advance quickly will have an opportunity to work on wheeling and channeling techniques.

Coaches and player-coaches are strongly encouraged to attend.

The methods and the communication system introduced is the same that will be used with the MARFU U23 side, so players with those aspirations (1-8) will benefit tremendously from attendance.

Players are asked to donate $5 each to cover the cost of travel/equipment - if this is an issue please contact Lisa directly.

If a team brings their entire pack and numbers permit, we will be happy to train you as a unit.

Assisting Lisa will be several USA Women's National Team pool players and MARFU Senior Select Side players, all fully trained in the techniques we will be teaching you.

If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Roshna Wunderlich wunderre@jmu.edu or Lisa Rosen - coachingrugby@gmail.com. Coaches with questions, please contact Lisa directly.

Female U19 players as well as U23 players are welcome to attend. Directions will be posted on the VRU website shortly.