Marauders move on to finals, will host championship game

HAMILTON, Ont. - Playing under the lights at Ron Joyce Stadium, the McMaster women's rugby team advanced to the OUA Championship game with a 24-10 semi-final victory over the Western Mustangs, and in the process punched its ticket to the CIS National Tournament. 

The start of Saturday night's game was delayed, when it was discovered that Western had arrived without their uniforms and someone had to drive back to London to retrieve them.   The delay didn't seem to impact the Marauders who carried the early play and got on the scoreboard first on a try scored by Saffara Whiteley-Hoffelner, with Stephanie Black adding the conversion.  
 
McMaster built the lead up to 17-3 in the opening half, with tries from Emily Ricketts and Cindy Nelles, while Western got a penalty goal from Breanne Nicholas.
 
The second half saw Western's Lori Josephson cross the touchline, with Nicholas adding the conversion to creep within 17-10. 
 
The Marauders were able to gain some space when Nelles scored her second try of the contest, with Black adding the convert to lead 24-10 which stood up as the final score.
 
McMaster will now face the Guelph Gryphons in the championship game on Saturday, October 25 at Ron Joyce Stadium, with a 4 p.m. start time.   The two OUA finalists played to a 27-27 draw back on September 28^th, but their next clash will decide the 2014 OUA champion.   Guelph defeated last year's champion Queen's in the other semi-final.

By reaching the final, both McMaster and Guelph qualify for the CIS Championship Tournament being held at the University of Guelph, October 30^th to November 2^nd.
 
Because Guelph has qualified as an OUA finalist, the winner of next week's  OUA bronze medal match between Western and Queen's will assume the host berth and also qualify for the Nationals.

Source: McMaster Marauders