“This tournament brought a lot of excitement to the rugby community,” said UOG Athletics Director Doug Palmer. “We can hopefully hold two more this spring.” 

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’s 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.

“This was a great start for the UOG Lady Tritons,” Palmer said about the university’s newest sport and the team’s first tournament. “We didn’t 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.”

Vina Terlaje of High Performance was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, with the following players named the All-Tournament Team:

• Olivia Elliott   High Performance
• Katie Mueller   Para Todu
• Taylor Crisostomo  Hybrids
• Katrina Penaflor  UOG Tritons
• Mariana Crisostomo  High Performance
• Makenna Greenlee  Para Todu
• T’anna Dela Cruz  Hybrids
• Tori Starr   High Performance
• Aveah Garrido  Para Todu
• Kayla Taguacta-Chiong High Performance