October 9, 2012

W-RUGBY ROUNDUP: Playoff matchups are set as regular season wraps up

October 5 – Toronto @ McMaster

The McMaster women's rugby team finished off the OUA regular season with a win over the Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday afternoon by a score of 60-7.

McMaster got off to a great start just six minutes into the match. From deep in Toronto's end, Sarah Farquharson (Niagara Falls, Ont.) found a hole through the defence to score the first try. Stephanie Black (Ottawa, Ont.) connected for the convert for the 7-0 lead.

The Blues would follow up with a try of their own twenty minutes later. Monique Petricone (King City, Ont.)would take a long run up the middle beating a few McMaster defenders for the try. Nicole Baker (Toronto) would score the convert to tie it up at seven.

Just five minutes later, McMaster would retake the lead. Veteran Maggie Cogger-Orr (Thornhill, Ont.) would do most of the work, weaving her way up the middle of the field to the goal line Rebecca Thompson (Guelph, Ont.) would finish it off with a try. Black would add the two points. Shortly following that, Cogger-Orr would score the next two tries for McMaster, giving them a comfortable 24-7 lead going into the second half.

McMaster wouldn't stop there. They would shut out of the Blues for the entire second half and go on a scoring rampage. First up was a try from Sarah Berry (East York, Ont.) with a big run up the sideline and through the Toronto defence. Eight minutes later, Black would get two tries just two minutes apart and connect on both converts to go up 43-7.

The Marauders weren't done there. To finish off the game, Cogger-Orr would score her third try of the game and Kailyn Jones (Port Colbourne, Ont.) would get one of her own. Both converts would be made by Black for a final score of 60-7. One more try would come from Claire Lockhart (Waterloo, Ont.) before the end of the game.

Source: McMaster Sports Info

Waterloo @ Western

On a dark and overcast day in London the Western Mustangs women’s rugby team took the field against the Waterloo Warriors in a game that would determine who would host next weekend’s OUA quarterfinal. The Warriors came out on top 10-5, and will now host the Mustangs next weekend in Waterloo.

Coming off of a loss to the perennial powerhouse Guelph Gryphons the Mustangs were looking to rebound against the Warriors and claim second place in the OUA. Unfortunately for the Mustangs a few too many mistakes combined with a tough Waterloo defence to lead to the loss.

“The mental mistakes escalated and we never fixed it, we never got a handle on it,” said Western head coach Natascha Wesch. “That’s what it comes down to, it’s mental errors. We know how to do things. Isn’t that what differentiates the top from the bottom?”

Waterloo opened the scoring in the first half with a try from Megan Colwell before Natasha Vrablic added the convert to make it 7-0. Western would respond with a couple of good scoring chances late in the first half before Arielle Dubisette-Borrice punched through the Waterloo defence to cut Waterloo’s lead to two heading into halftime.

Waterloo contained the play in the Mustangs half of the field for the majority of the second half and Vrablic widened the Warriors lead with a penalty goal midway through the final frame. Western made a final push late in the game, but it wasn’t enough, and Waterloo came away with a 10-5 victory.

With the loss the Mustangs finish third in the Shields Division and will now travel to Waterloo next weekend for a playoff showdown with the Warriors.

“The start of the game will be different,” said Wesch on next week’s return match. “We’re going to have people that are injured back, we’re going to have our regular lineup back, and hopefully that takes care of some of the confidence pieces. Really the people that are on the field now have to perform and do the work.”

Source: Western Sports Info

Brock @ Laurier

With the fourth and final playoff spot in the OUA Shields division on the line, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's rugby team (0-6) saw their first half lead disappear in losing 39-12 to the Brock Badgers (1-5) on Friday afternoon.

Seeking their first playoff appearance since 2005, Laurier jumped out to a 12-0 lead thanks to two quick trys from Amanda Lewis of Waterloo, Ont., and a conversion from Jennifer Gilmour of Waterloo, Ont.

Brock would respond with a try from Emily Voisin of Kitchener, Ont., and a penalty goal from Taylor Ward of Keene, Ont., to cut the lead to 12-8 after 40 minutes.

With the game up for grabs for either team entering the final half of the regular season, it was the Badgers who took advantage, scoring 31 points in the final 40 minutes to come away with the victory.

Ward led the way for the Badgers, converting three conversions to go along with her penalty goal to lead Brock with nine points on the day. Lewis led the way for the Hawks with 10 points.

Source: Laurier Sports Info

Trent @ Guelph

The Guelph Gryphons wrapped up their regular season last week and once again showed their dominating scoring power with a 70-0 win over the Trent Excalibur on Friday night (Oct. 5).

The Gryphons finish the regular season with an undefeated 6-0 regular season record atop the Sheils Division and will now host a OUA quarter-final game against the Brock Badgers this Saturday (Oct. 13) at 1:00 p.m. on Varsity Field. During the regular season the Gryphons defeated Brock 86-0. When the post season begin’s the Gryphons will be vying for their fifth consecutive OUA Championship title and back-to-back CIS championship titles.

On Friday, in the first minutes of the game against Trent, captain Caitlin Beaton (Clavering, Ont.) set the tone by powering through the defensive line to touch down for the first try. She wanted to end the regular season with a bang.

Another fifth year star, Britt Benn (Napanee, Ont.) added three tries of her own in the first half before she was taken off so she can rest before playoffs. Daria Keane (Sarnia, Ont.) also used her powerful running and straight arm to get around her opposite and scored two tries in the first half and one in the second.

Shannon Spurrell (Hayley Station) and Dominique Monaghan (Markham, Ont.) each added two each showing the Gryphons had too much speed for the opposition to handle. Megan Lowry (Barrie, Ont.), second year prop finally decided to use her size and strength and parted the defensive line easily off of a quick penalty.

The Gryphons were however put under some pressure as Trent managed to create turnovers at the point of contact when Guelph got lazy or too slow to the breakdown. Their #12 S. Guttin broke several tackles, kicked on the run and caught it on a favorable bounce. The Gryphons however did not want to concede any points and were unforgiving on defence. The penalty count against Guelph was ridiculously high and yet they prevailed on stopping their offensive attempts.

The Gryphons now shift focus to the post-season and will be back in action for an OUA quarter-final game on Saturday (Oct. 13) at 1 p.m. at Guelph’s Varsity Field.

Source: Guelph Athletics

York @ Queen’s

Three tries by Kayla Roote led the Queen's Gaels to a 72-11 victory over the York Lions in OUA women's rugby action at Nixon Field, Friday. The third-year Number 8 scored tries after scrums deep in the Lions end in the 10th, 30th and 33th minutes, as the Gaels cruised to their seventh straight regular-season win, dating back to 2011. Queen's led 38-3 at halftime.

Jordyn Rowntree and Taylor White each scored a pair of tries for the Gaels, while Sarah Pathak, Miranda Seifert, Marin MacLeod and Nadia Popov each scored one try. Popov also added a pair of conversions, to finish with nine points. Four conversions by Bronwyn Corrigan rounded out the Queen's scoring.

Zoe Smith scored the Lions' only try, while Alexis Boltsis kicked a pair of penalty goals.

The Gaels (6-0-0, 30 pts.) will host an OUA Quarter-final game on Saturday, October 13, against the Trent Excalibur, who finished fourth in the OUA Russell Division. Kickoff at Nixon Field is set for 1 p.m.