Familiar foes clash as No. 3 Marauders take on No. 1 Gryphons in OUA Women's Rugby Championship rematch

BURLINGTON, Ont. – The No. 3 nationally-ranked McMaster Marauders will travel to Guelph, Ont. this Saturday at 1:00pm looking to repeat as OUA women's rugby champions.  Standing in the way is their rival and 13-time provincal champions, the No. 1 ranked Guelph Gryphons.

Last season, these two teams met at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton, Ont. with the Marauders getting the better of the Gryphons 19-10 to clinch their first OUA title in program history.  McMaster scored a last-ditch try with just three minutes to play and strong defensive play in the final minutes helped them seal the victory.

Despite being the defending champs, the Marauders will enter Saturday's contest as an underdog to a Gyphons squad that led the conference with 439 points scored while only allowing 10 against in five regular season games.

Guelph went an undefeated 5-0 this season and was led this season by 8^th man Daria Keane (Sarnia, Ont.).  Keane, a fifth-year sociology student-athlete, led the conference in tries with 15 and finished second in OUA in points scored with 75 in just five regular season games.  She was recently named Shiels Division MVP and an OUA all-star.

As many teams found out the hard way this season, the Gryphons have multiple weapons that can hurt you, as their roster this season features five OUA all-stars.  In addition to Keane, prop Brittany Kassil (Guelph, Ont.), forward Bronwyn McCrone (Mississauga, Ont.), lock Devon Stober (Mississauga, Ont.) and fullback Alexandra King (Ottawa, Ont.) all turned in all-star seasons and will be ready to go on Saturday as the Gryphons attempt to keep the Championship Trophy in "The Royal City."

In their quarter-final matchup against Brock, the Gryphons hung up triple digits on the Badgers, booking a semifinal matchup against the No. 4 ranked Queen's Gaels. 

The Gaels witnessed first-hand just how well-balanced the Gryphon offensive attack can be as five different players scored tries, while King added 8 points on four made converts, in a 38-3 victory.

Once again this season, the Marauders were the team to beat in the Russell division, finishing the regular season with a 4-1 record.  While the numbers are quite Gryphon-esque, the Marauders still put up 315 points on the competition this season and only allowed 46 points against.

In her four seasons at McMaster, 8^th man Cindy Nelles (Belleville, Ont.) has established herself as a force to be reckoned with on the field.  This season, the civil engineering major lead the team in tries with seven and was named Russell Division MVP and an OUA all-star.  Nelles isn't the only name opposing players have come to fear as fifth-year centre Emily Ricketts (Oakville, Ont.) turned in a third consecutive all-star calibre season.  Joining Nelles and Ricketts on the Russell division all-star squad are the trio of McMaster prop Colleen Irowa (Innisfil, Ont.), flanker Katie Svoboda (Belleville, Ont.) and lock Abi Moody (Toronto, Ont.).

Despite dropping a difficult opening week matchup on the road against the 2013 OUA champion Queen's Gaels, the Marauders rattled off four straight wins, holding their opponents to single digits in two of those games.

Like their opponent on Saturday, McMaster cruised through their quarterfinal matchup with an 88-8 victory over the visiting Trent Excalibur.  The following week, they welcomed the Western Mustangs to the not-so-friendly confines of Ron Joyce Stadium, promptly bringing their championship aspirations to an end with a 51-7 victory.

With Queen's playing host to the 2015 CIS Championship, the stakes on Saturday couldn't be higher for both teams.  The winner of the gold medal match will punch their ticket to Kingston, Ont. while the loser will see their season come to an end.

The bronze medal game is also a rematch from last season as the Queen's Gaels and Western Mustangs renew hostilities.  Queen's once again finished second in the Russell division behind McMaster and will host Saturday's showdown at 3:00 pm, while Western finished second in the Shiels division with a 4-1 record. 

The two teams have not faced each other since last year's bronze medal game in which the Mustangs knocked off the Gaels 22-19, advancing to the CIS championship.  The Mustangs would go on to knock off the defending champions from Alberta before falling to the St. Francis Xavier X-Women in the semifinals.  Western would rebound and take down the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees to win bronze, their first CIS medal at the tournament since 2007.