Marauders beat Lions 36-19 for OUA bronze

Weathering a slow start under the lights at Ron Joyce Stadium, the Marauders worked their way into Friday’s OUA bronze medal game and eventually pulled away to secure the medal finish. 

A late try from newly-crowned, two-time OUA Player of the Year Sara Svoboda put the game out of reach, as McMaster defeated York 36-19 to conclude their season with a medal.

Wing Khadija Brouillette had a pair of tries for the Marauders in the win, while Brit French, Maddi Cohoon and Taylor Price also crossed the try line in the win.

In addition to her try, Svoboda had two converts, for a game-high total of nine points.

Megan Pakulis, Cheyenne Legerton and Jodi Stewart countered with tries for the York Lions in a losing effort.

The visitors signalled their intent when Pakulis crossed for the game’s first try just over ten minutes into proceedings, giving the visitors a 7-0 lead after the convert was made.

Almost immediately, the Marauders pegged the Lions back, with an unconverted try to narrow the gap to two points.

But Legerton had an answer of her own in the 21st minute, with a massive line break to spring herself on a nearly-50-yard run to the in-goal area. Her try was unconverted, but pushed the Lions back into a 12-5 lead.

It was the first of the night for Brouillette that pulled McMaster even minutes later, as she broke the line with a burst of speed and crossed under the posts to give Svoboda an easy time of the convert, which she dutifully drained for 12-12.

Mac took their first lead of the game, one which would not be surrendered for the remainder of the night, when French managed to turn the corner and beat a tackler en route to the area, touching down for 17-12 with two minutes to play before the halftime break.

Fifteen minutes into the new half, Brouillette was rewarded for another tough run with her second try, as she was hammered with a high hit at the try line and the penalty try was awarded with the automatic convert, giving Mac a 24-12 advantage.

The Lions made things interesting yet again in the 61st minute with their third try of the night to close within five points, but the Marauders quickly snuffed out the momentum with two of their own, capped by Svoboda’s closer two minutes from time.

Source: marauders.ca