It was an incredibly dominant first day for the NCR All-Americans at Algarve 7s as the team went 3-0 in pool play without really breaking a sweat. They didn’t surrender a single point across all three games, outscoring their opponents 171-0 to clinch a spot in playoffs on day two. The team’s performance in the opening matches makes them a strong contender in the playoffs and gives them the chance to improve on last year’s second-place finish and bring some championship hardware back to the States.
Four days of preparation was all this squad, consisting of some of the best women’s collegiate 7s players in the country, needed to form itself into a juggernaut – evidenced by its 50-0 smackdown of the South London Crabbitohs in game one of pool play on Saturday, June 6. The All-Americans flew up and down the pitch, bringing a level of intensity that never wavered from the opening whistle to the end of the match.
NCR suffocated their opponents on defense, preventing the Crabbitohs from ever even threatening to score thanks to plenty of dominant tackles and some stellar work at the breakdown. The team also scored seemingly at will, relying on a stable of explosive athletes capable of taking it to the house from anywhere at any time.
Team captain Laryssa Barbosa, out of Brown University, served as a key distributor for the college side, always making the right pass to put her teammates through the gaps in the defense. Barbosa got things started early by taking the opening kickoff and putting Colorado School of Mines’ Piper Lee into space, with Lee offloading to Ohio State’s Ada Erhart who was tackled inside the five meter line. Notre Dame’s Isabel Henderson scooped the ball off the deck and plunged in for the team’s opening score of the tournament.
Even when things didn’t go to plan, NCR had the awareness and athleticism to make themselves right. Towson University’s Kelly Greenleaf, a veteran of the Algarve 7s scene having played in the tournament in 2025, corralled a bouncing ball after an errant pass on the wing, made two defenders miss in space, and dotted it down to put NCR ahead by two scores. The recent graduate also added three successful conversions to her point tally. Scores by Lee and Iowa’s Gillian McRae, off an assist from Barbosa, put NCR up 26-0 at the half.
Another two-time tour attendee, Notre Dame’s Mia Blocher, highlighted the depth of the talent on the team by coming off the bench in the second half and putting the game out of reach. After Northeastern’s Jolene Russo opened the second half with a score, Blocher, who led NCR in scoring with 40 points at last year’s tournament, used her explosive speed and incredible strength in contact to score two long breakaway tries in a row.
The Crabbitohs had to resort to a high tackle to stop the Fighting Irish standout from scoring a hattrick, but they couldn’t stop McRae from getting herself a brace as the Hawkeye scored off the ensuing penalty to bring NCR’s point total to the half century mark.
The All-Americans kept the same level of intensity in game number two, shutting out Sporting CP 47-0. Greenleaf led the squad in scoring with two tries in the match and two conversions made. Henderson also extended her scoring streak to two games in a row, while Marist’s Sydney Weiss slotted four conversions and touched it down for her first try of the tournament.
Brown University’s Olivia Baptiste, Tobias Gudinas out of the University of New Hampshire, and Drury University standout Lauren Thomlinson also scored their first tries of the tournament while the entire team contributed to another stifling defensive effort.
The team saved its best performance for last, routing Strathclyde University’s second side 74-0. Blocher exploded in this match, scoring four tries to bring her day one total to six. The junior has positioned herself to potentially lead the team in scoring at this tournament for the second year in a row.
Lee and Thomlinson each had a brace against Strathclyde, while Henderson, Gudinas, and McRae added one score each to their day one totals. RPI’s Leanna Wells also scored her first try of the tournament.
The team will play their first playoff match early Sunday morning.