SCOREBOARD

Laurier 7 @ Waterloo 29

Trent 5 @ Queen's 71

Brock 0 @ York 71

Team effort propels Warriors to season opening win over Hawks

It's always a heated affair in the battle of Waterloo and today was no different in the Warriors' season and home opener.

The only difference was the Warriors and Golden Hawks went to battle on the turf of Warrior Field with Waterloo coming away victorious in convincing fashion, winning the match 29-7. 

Sydney Bang opened the scoring for the Golden Hawks within the opening two minutes and after a successful convert by Dani Mitchell, Waterloo found themsevles down 7-0 early.

The Warriors however stuck to the game plan and answered with a try of their own as  Eleta Mitton (Simcoe) got things going for the black and gold with a solid drive down the far right wing.  

Waterloo would put away four more tries and two converts, making it 29 unanswered points as the black and gold cruised to the 29-7 win.  Jessie Brush (Kitchener), Tea Lalatovic, Natalie Yeung (Unionville), and Kayley Jacobs were the other Warriors to punch home tries while Yeung also added the converts giving her nine points on the afternoon.

The win was the first for rookie head coach Rebecca Delaney. The Warriors look to make it two straight when they travel to London next Saturday to take on arch rivals Western Mustangs.  Game time is set for 1pm.

Source: Waterloo Warriors

Gaels crush Trent in season opener

KINGSTON, Ont. (September 10, 2016) - The Gaels got points from eight different players as the women's rugby team dominated the Trent Excalibur in a convincing 71-5 win Saturday afternoon on Nixon Field.

GAME FLOW
Nadia Popov (Newmarket, Ont.) returned to the Gaels lineup in style, scoring the first two tries of the season for the tricolour. Popov was the OUA Rookie of the Year in 2012 when she was fourth in OUA scoring with 52 points, but hasn't played CIS rugby since her first year of eligibility because she earned a spot with team Canada, including the senior women's sevens team in 2015. 

Queen's quickly added to the 10 points from Popov, with Molly Labenski (Oakville, Ont.), Jordi Di Nardo (Toronto), and Kendyl Wilson (Oakville, Ont.) scoring a try each before haltime. Labenski and Wilson transferred to join the Gaels roster this year, both starting their masters at Queen's after playing for a strong team at Acadia.

The Gaels took a 29-0 lead into halftime thanks to a pair of successful conversions from captain Erin Geddes (Lindsay, Ont.).

Trent finally got on the board early in the second half on a try from Jordan Semark. The unsuccessful conversion made it 36-5 in favour of Queen's. 

The tricolour regained control of the game soon afterward, and continued to dominate the field of play until the final whistle. Popov finished the game with three tries for Queen's, while McKinley Hunt (King City, Ont.) and Labenski contributed two tries each. In addition to the scores from Di Nardo and Wilson, the Gaels also got a try apiece from Lauren Cranfield (Pickering, Ont.) and Abby Refausse (Trenton, Ont.). Geddes finished the day with eight successful conversions on 11 attempts.

BY THE NUMBERS
15 - Nadia Popov scored 15 points in her return to the Gaels lineup
16 - Captain Erin Geddes recorded 16 points, all from conversions
47 - The Gaels held Trent scoreless for the first 47 minutes of the game

FINAL SAY
"Having Nadia around is awesome," head coach Beth Barz said. "She's able to score tries, but she's also looking to set other people up. If we kept assists in rugby, she would have had a few in that game. That was great to see. She's obviously keen to get her teammates involved."

Source: Queen's Gaels

Lions open season with big win over the Badgers

The York University Lions women's rugby team got its season off to a great start on Friday night (Sept. 9) with a dominant 71-0 victory over the Brock Badgers at the York Rugby Field.
 
The win gave new head coach Jenn Russell the first triumph of her career.
 
Tobi Owotomo (Mississauga, Ont.), the reigning OUA Russell Division rookie of the year, led all players with three tries on the night, including the first score of the game. She put the Lions on the board nine minutes in and they rolled from there, scoring three tries in a two-minute span and adding another 28 minutes later as part of a 31-point opening half.
 
The Lions did not slow down at all after the break, scoring another try 10 minutes into the second and adding another four before the end of the game for the lopsided victory.
 
Cheyenne Legerton (Brampton, Ont.) had a pair of tries in the second half, and Catherine Belanger (Orleans, Ont.) totaled 13 points on five conversions and a penalty goal.
 
Also scoring tries in the game were Tia Anderson-Hudson (Mississauga, Ont.), Jonelle Mars (Scarborough, Ont.), Petra Woods (Brampton, Ont.), Dorrian Khouri (Brampton, Ont.) and Bobbi-Jo Cronk (Newburgh, Ont.), while rookie Natasha Naismith (Orangeville, Ont.) added four points on two conversions.
 
The Lions will be back in action next Friday night (Sept. 16) when they welcome the rival McMaster Marauders to camps for their second of three home games this season. The match will begin at 7pm at the York Rugby Field.

Source: York Lions