Team Stephen M. Ross Wins UMRFC’s Sevens Tournament

Team Ross with the Championship Plate

UMRFC completed its intrasquad sevens tournament on Friday night as team Stephen M. Ross emerged victorious. With an undefeated record, team Ross takes the championship plate until next year. With the completion of the sevens tournament, UMRFC prepares for Tour in Trinidad and Tobago and the spring fifteens season. If you weren’t able to see the games on Friday, head over to our YouTube channel to view the game videos.

Game 1: Semifinal – #1 Stephen M. Ross 40 – #4 Don Canham 0

Team Ross was in the final stretch and kept rolling. Cole Van Harn was the first to score with a quick pass from Chening Duker. Canham worked down the field, but Ross stole the ball and worked down the field where Christian Mentzer scored. Then after a long run by Van Harn, Mentzer picked the ball from the ruck and scored again. Canham got close to scoring before the half, but a penalty allowed Jared Bosma to kick the ball out to end the half. Shortly after taking the kickoff, Bosma got the ball, passed to Van Harn who offloaded to Mike LaCivita who broke away for a try. Both teams worked back and forth down the field until Bosma took the ball from a scrum and passed to Joel Conzelmann, who passed to Christian Mentzer who broke three tackles to score his third try of the game. Shortly after the kickoff, Bosma won a defensive ruck, allowing Chening Duker to score. Canham tried to get a score in before time expired, but Ross wouldn’t allow it, making the final score 40-0.

Game 2: Semifinal – #2 Bennie Oosterbaan 19 – #3 James J. Duderstadt 21

After a close game, Team Duderstadt pulled out the upset of the defending champions, Team Oosterbaan. Grady Bridges got Oosterbaan’s first score of the game after taking a loose ball from a scrum from the 5 yard line. Duderstadt got close to scoring twice before they lost the ball to a penalty. After a short break due to an injury, Oosterbaan quickly maked it down the field where Chris Hopfner passed to Bridges for his second score, but Bridges didn’t make the conversion. Following the kickoff, Cooper Smart broke the line for a huge gain, and after a few quick passes, Zach Kendall scored team Duderstadt’s first try to end the half. Shortly after the kickoff, Oosterbaan lost the ball to a knock-on and a penalty, where Evan Noon took the ball and passed to Spencer Scolnick, who scored. Noon’s conversion put team Duderstadt in the lead 14-12. Team Oosterbaan quickly responded when Bridges scores his third try after an offload from Dave Hiltzik from their 30 yard line, putting Oosterbaan back in the lead. After a short back and forth, Oosterbaan lost the ball after a line out, giving John Palladino the chance to score off of a pass from Max Arevuo, giving Duderstadt the lead with less than 90 seconds to go. Oosterbaan tried to use the final seconds to score again, but Scolnick kicked the ball out of bounds after time expired.

Chening Duker, CJ Stock, Christian Mentzer, and Drew Vecchio try to win a ruck to get the ball.

Game 3: 5^th Place – #5 James Earl Jones 40 – #6 Mary Sue Coleman 7

For the first of the final matches, team Mary Sue Coleman tried unsuccessfully to get their first win, as Team James Earl Jones took 5^th place. Team Jones dominated early, which led to Ben Clemens scoring their first try after picking up a loose ball. Team Jones kept that going as Clemens passed to Kenny Andutan for another score. Coleman was able to get control of the ball, but Jones took back possession and made it down to Coleman’s 5 yard line for a scrum where Andutan picked and scored. Shortly after the beginning of the second half, Team Coleman was able to gain possession and got into the try zone via Jesse Fenno with the help of Matt Pilon and Brennan Arnett. Team Jones responded quickly with a 60 yard run for a score by Zack Burns. They keep rolling after the following kickoff, where Andutan scored a 40 yard try. Team Coleman lost possession shortly after the kickoff, and after a few phases by Jones, Burns picked up a loose ball and scored. Team Coleman controlled the ball and threatened a score in the final seconds, but they were unable to capitalize as the ball was kicked out of bounds.

Game 4: 3^rd Place – #2 Bennie Oosterbaan 14 – #4 Don Canham 49

After their upset loss in the semifinal, Team Bennie Oosterbaan wasn’t able to bounce back as Team Don Canham took 3^rd place. Team Canham scored first when Kevin Linder swung it out to Nick Lazurka who ran for a 55 yard try. Shortly after, Oliver Gregorson stole the ball after a tackle which allowed Drew Vecchio to score. Oosterbaan tried to take control of possession but Canham stole it, and shortly after, Nick Lazurka scored his second try. As the first half came to a close, Scott Miller took an offload from Lazurka down the sideline 30 yards for another Canham score. After the second-half kickoff, Canham took possession again, and Lazurka received an offload from CJ Stock for his third score. It seemed that Canham couldn’t be stopped as they gained possession again after the kickoff which led to a second score for Vecchio. Oosterbaan took another shot at getting on the scoreboard when Chris Hopfner broke away for a 20 yard run, but he was knocked out of bounds. Lazurka scored again following the lineout. During the following kickoff, Ryan McDonough passed to Dave Hiltzik who was determined to get Oosterbaan on the board, breaking through the line for a 75 yard score. In the closing seconds, Stock made a failed attempt to kick the ball out to end the game, but Bridges was able to recover the kick. Bridges gave the ball to Zack Burns who ran for 65 yards before offloading it to Andutan for the score.

Jared Bosma looks to get the ball from a scrum

Game 5: Championship – #1 Stephen M. Ross 42 – #3 James J. Duderstadt 5

This was it. The final game, where Stephen M. Ross completed its perfect intrasquad sevens season and took home the championship plate. Ross got started quickly with Christian Mentzer offloading to Chening Duker for a 65 yard score shortly after the game began. Both teams fought for possession, but a scrum on Duderstadt’s end of the field led to a score for Mentzer as he powered through multiple people to touch it down. After a couple penalties on Ross, Duderstadt was able to get deep into Ross’s side of the field until Mike LaCivita stole the ball after a tackle. At an ensuing scrum, Jared Bosma picked the ball and offloaded it to Joel Conzelmann who broke away and ran 90 yards to score. Team Duderstadt wasn’t going to let Ross shut them out as Evan Noon stole the ball and offloaded it to Cooper Smart who ran 35 yards for a score to close the first half. Ross didn’t waste any time at the beginning of the second half as LaCivita broke away shortly after the kickoff and passed to Mentzer who broke multiple tackles to score. Duderstadt gained some ground, but lost the ball out of bounds at midfield. After winning the lineout, Ross moved it out to Conzelmann who broke away for another try. Soon after, Mentzer and Duker won a defensive ruck which led to a 70 yard run by Cole Van Harn for a score. Ross took it easy after that score, and didn’t allow Team Duderstadt to get another score until Van Harn was able to kick the ball out of bounds to seal Ross’s championship victory.

Final Standings:

Champion: Stephen M. Ross

Runner-Up: James J. Duderstadt

3^rd Place: Don Canham

4^th Place: Bennie Oosterbaan

5^th Place: James Earl Jones

6^th Place: Mary Sue Coleman