Chittick Sports Complex, Long Beach, CA, saw a day of very competitive rugby. All teams were ready to show off their skills early on. The men’s qualifier bracket featured 8 of SoCal’s finest squads, while the social bracket was a tight race of hungry teams.Â
QUALIFIERS
Pool A saw Belmont Shore Gold finish on top heading into the Cup semis while OMBAC was a close second, leaving Oceanside and Eagle Rock 2 to play for the 5th and 7th place games.
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Pool B was a very tight race; Santa Monica went undefeated in pool play. However, Belmont Blue, Eagle Rock, and Soul all finished 1-2 after pool play. This saw Belmont Blue advance as they held the advantage in overall point differential (the first tiebreaker stat).
The Cup Semis featured an "internal" clash, with Belmont Gold taking on Belmont Blue. It was a very physical match that ultimately ended in favor of Belmont Blue.
The other Cup Semi saw OMBAC and Santa Monica battle it out for the right to advance to the final. Although OMBAC put in a very strong effort, it wasn’t enough to hold off Santa Monica’s continuity play. The Cup final saw Santa Monica vs. Belmont Blue, which turned out to be a chop tackle clinic. Both teams ground it out until the final whistle, with Santa Monica crowned the Winner of the first Men’s SoCal Qualifier!Â
SOCIAL
The social bracket was riddled with former professionals, eagles, and World Cup players. Signal Hill and Valley Center definitely had the advantage of youth on the day as both squads were very young. However, the old bulls of Belmont White and Beach Cities were able to hold their own through the day, seeing Belmont Shore White advance to the Cup final against Signal Hill. This turned out to be a spirited match between 2 local LBC teams. One was full of college athletes, while the other squad fielded at least 5 players who get a senior discount at Denny's. In the end, the old bulls were able to show the college boys a trick or two, seeing Belmont White be crowned Social Cup champions.Â
CURRENT QUALIFIER STANDINGS
RANK | TEAM | PTS | PREVIOUS |
1 | Santa Monica | 22 | — |
2 | Belmont Shore - Blue | 19 | — |
3 | Belmont Shore - Gold | 17 | — |
4 | OMBAC | 15 | — |
5 | South LA Soul | 13 | — |
6 | Oceanside | 12 | — |
7 | Eagle Rock 1 | 11 | — |
8 | Eagle Rock 2 | 10 | — |
Thank you, Patrick Rashidian (Belmont Shore) for providing the information.
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