USAWR stayed unbeaten on day two of pool play, defeating Canada 49-39 behind strong defensive pressure and balanced scoring to clinch a quarterfinal berth.
Sarah Adam (Naperville, Illinois) opened the scoring and finished with nine trys, while Chuck Aoki (Minneapolis, Minnesota) again led the U.S. with 14.
The U.S. set the tone early, jumping ahead 7-1 and taking a 27-17 lead into halftime. Canada traded trys with the Americans early in the third quarter, but a late run of forced turnovers helped the U.S. stretch the advantage to 38-27 and the eventual 49-39 final score.
The win sends Team USA to the quarterfinals later this week, marking a key first milestone at these World Championships. “We talked about in the pre-game meeting that another win tonight would be our first step to check off for World Championships,” said Head Coach Joe Delagrave. “Our starts have been impressive, and our deep bench allows us to put out a great team effort.”
Pool play concludes tomorrow, with the U.S. facing Australia at 9:30 a.m. CT and host country Brazil at 5:30 p.m. CT. Australia and the U.S. are the only unbeaten teams remaining in their pool.
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