USA Women's Eagles Edged By Barbarians

The USA Women’s Eagles lost to the Barbarians 34-33 on the final play on Friday, Apr 26 at Infinity Park. The Women’s Eagles came back from a 17-point deficit to lead the Barbarians, but a last-second Barbarians try, gave the visitors the win.

“We got some really exciting young talent who worked really hard on seeing space – recognizing space – and keeping the ball alive,” said Head Coach Rob Cain. “I’m so proud of them, to come up against a team that’s been to so many World Cups and has so much experience and really that probably showed at the end. They put the ball in the right area, a bit of a heartbreak for us, but it’s all about performance.”

The Barbarians Jasmine Joyce scored first and continued to threaten early in the match. Amy Naber-Bonte then stole the ball and scored a try for the U.S. The USA Neariah Persinger capped off a passing display with a try in the corner for a 12-7 lead.

The Barbarians answered back with two tries by Jasmine Joyce and another by Alison Miller, and a 4th by Alisha Butchers for a 29-12 lead.

In the second half, Ashlee Bryge stole the ball and Eti Haungatau finished to dot down. Neariah Persinger added another to cut the lead to 29-26. A Stacey Bridges offload to Kate Zackary for a try then gave the USA a 33-29 lead with one minute remaining in the match.

That was enough time as the Barbarians took the restart and Jasmine Joyce found a seam and scored on the final play for a 34-33 win.

The Women’s Eagles will return June 28 to July 14 for the Women’s Rugby Super Series in San Diego, CA, facing No. 1 New Zealand, No. 2 England, No. 3 Canada and No. 4 France. Fans can sign up for the presale ticket list at usarugby.org/tickets. All games will be broadcast LIVE on FloRugby.com.

Squads

USA Women’s Sevens: 1. Catherine Benson (Life West Gladiatrix,17) 2. Joanna Kitlinski (Glendale Merlins,8) 3. Nicole James (Houston Athletic, 6) 4. Stacey Bridges (Beantown Rugby, 36) 5. Nicole Strasko (Life West Gladiatrix, 3) 6. Katherine Zackary (C) (San Diego Surfers, 9) 7. Rachel Johnson (Oregon Sports Union, 3) 8. Nate Serevi (Scion Rugby, 2 9. Carly Waters (New York Rugby, 2) 10. Katana Howard (Twin City Amazon, 0) 11. Neariah Persinger (Unattached,0) 12. Amy Naber (LIfe West Gladiatrix,1) 13. Eti Haungatau (Women’s Sevens Residency Program, 0 14. Jennine Duncan (Seattle Saracens, 2) 15. Gabriella Cantorna (Glendale Merlins, 3) 16. Katy Augustyn (Berkeley All Blues, 33) 17. Hope Rogers (Women’s Sevens Residency Program, 25) 18. Charli Jacoby (Chicago North Shore. 0) 19. Alycia Washington (New York Rugby,17) 20. Joyce Taufa (Lindenwood University, 3) 21. Ashlee Byrge (Women’s Sevens Residency Program, 0) 22. Bui Baravilala (San Diego Surfers, 6) 23. Bulou Mataitoga (Berkeley All Blues, 0)

Barbarians Squad

Barbarians: 1 Rochelle Clark (Wasps & England, 137) 2 Fiao’o Fa’amausili (Auckland Marist & New Zealand, 57) 3 Steph Te Ohaere-Fox (Christchurch & New Zealand, 25) 4 Carmen Farmer (Glendale & USA, 11) 5 Dalena Dennison (Warringah & Australia, 12) 6 Paula Fitzpatrick (St Mary’s & Ireland, 40) 7 Alisha Butchers (Worcester Valkyries & Wales, 25) 8 Linda Itunu (Ponsonby & New Zealand, 40) 9 Emma Jensen (Hastings & New Zealand, 49) 10 Elinor Snowsill (Bristol Bears & Wales, 51) 11 Alison Miller (Old Belvedere & Ireland, 47) 12 Helen Nelson (Montpellier & Scotland, 22) 13 Amanda Thornborough (Westshore & Canada, 28) 14 Tova Derk (Wasps) 15 Jasmine Joyce (Worcester Valkyries & Wales, 15) 16 Heather Kerr (Darlington MP & England, 161) 17 Samantha Martinez Gion (Amsterdam & Netherlands, 4) 18 Gill Bourke (Stade Francais & Ireland, 51) 19 Amelia Buckland-Hurry (Bristol Bears, 0) 20 Julia Folk (Castaway Wanderers & Canada, 5) 21Hannah Stolba (Glendale & USA, 12) 22 Andrea Burk (Capilanos & Canada, 38) 23 Katie Mason (Wasps & England, 13)