High Performance captures Lady Triton Rugby Sevens title
The High Performance women鈥檚 rugby club captured the very first championship with a 36-0 victory over the Para Todu club on Saturday at the University of Guam Rugby Field. The university鈥檚 Triton Athletics Department hosted the two-weekend tournament in conjunction with the debut of its first-ever women鈥檚 rugby team.
鈥淭his tournament brought a lot of excitement to the rugby community,鈥 said UOG Athletics Director Doug Palmer. 鈥淲e can hopefully hold two more this spring.鈥
The championship match was hard-fought by both teams, but the High Performance defense proved too much for Para Todu and the match on the scoreboard was a one-sided affair.
High Performance, whose team consists of multiple Guam national team players, went 5-0 during the tournament, allowing only one score.
In the semifinals, High Performance beat the shorthanded UOG Tritons team 31-0. The Tritons, down to six players after a team member suffered a concussion last week, managed better defense than their 42-0 loss to High Performance in last week鈥檚 qualifying match.
In the second semifinal game, the Para Todu club beat the Hybrids 17-5 in a match that heated up in the final two minutes as the Hybrids turned up the pressure on Para Todu.
With the Tritons vs. Hybrid third-place match cancelled following a Triton injury in the semifinals, team Hybrid, with a tournament record of 2-3, was declared the winner and third-place finisher.
Para Todu finished second place with a record of 3-2, and the UOG Tritons finished fourth place with a record of 0-5.
鈥淭his was a great start for the UOG Lady Tritons,鈥 Palmer said about the university鈥檚 newest sport and the team鈥檚 first tournament. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 win any matches, but we learned a lot about the game and what we need to do to have a successful program on the island.鈥
Vina Terlaje of High Performance was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, with the following players named the All-Tournament Team: