OUA Women's Rugby Roundup (Sept. 30)
York 33 Western 20
The York University Lions women's rugby team won its first game of the season on Friday night with a 33-20 victory over the Western Mustangs in London, Ont.
The two squads faced off in a crucial game for playoff seeding in the Shiels Division, which has a new structure this year and features the top five teams in the OUA from last season. As the winners, the Lions are guaranteed to finish in fourth place and will have a chance to play for the medals in the playoffs.
It was actually the Mustangs that got on the board first, with Nikki Case opening the scoring in the second minute of play on a long run that found the end zone.
The Lions got on the board five minutes later with a try by Megan Pakulis to even the score at 5-5, and they took their first lead when Catherine Belanger's conversion was good.
The Lions led for the rest of the game, by as much as 18 points early in the second half when Belanger's second conversion extended the lead 28-10. She finished the game with three conversions for six points.
Tobi Owotomo, a reigning OUA all-star and U SPORTS all-Canadian, was York's leading scorer with two tries, her first coming in the 26th minute and the second in the 42nd. Tia Anderson and Sasha Seymouralso scored tries for the Lions, while Veronica Harrigan added a pair for Western.
The Lions will host a playoff game next Friday night at 7pm at Alumni Field against the top finisher in the Russell Division after the regular season concludes this weekend.
Souce: yorkulions.ca
Guelph 35 McMaster 19
HAMILTON – It was 336 days ago that the Gryphons women's rugby team left Hamilton with a memorable win and an OUA championship. On Friday night, the Gryphs made their first trip back to McMaster since claiming the 2016 OUA banner. Although a conference title was not at stake this time around, there were nevertheless huge playoff implications on the line as two undefeated, nationally ranked rivals went head-to-head. And just like they did 11 months ago, the Gryphons once again left McMaster with the result they were looking for.
In cool, windy conditions Friday evening at Ron Joyce Stadium, the No. 3-ranked Guelph Gryphons women's rugby team picked up a decisive 35-19 victory over the No. 7-ranked Marauders in what was a re-match of last year's OUA championship final. With the win, the Gryphons complete an undefeated regular season (4-0) and secure a bye through to the OUA semi-finals.
"There were no easy tries out there tonight," said Gryphons head coach Colette McAuley. "We have a lot of respect for the Mac program and they put up a tremendous fight tonight. In the end, we played the game a little bit lower than they did. I thought we had great leg drive, played some quick balls and really hammered into them while protecting the ball. It definitely took all phases tonight, but every single one of the girls on our team were able to not only carry the ball, but carry it well. And that's hard to stop."
The Gryphons, who led 14-7 at halftime, pulled away in the second half, expanding the lead to 28-7 on Brodie Schmidt's try in the 61st minute. McMaster would make a push late, but the outcome after the 61st minute was never really in doubt as the Gryphons left Hamilton with a 35-19 win.
Julia Schell, who last year was named the Shiels Division MVP, was good on all five of her convert attempts and also scored the final try of the evening to seal the match for the visitors. Zana Everett was the lone Gryphon to record two tries on the day, while Madison Brattan also picked up a try on the night.
Up next for the Gryphons is an OUA semi-final on their home turf on Saturday, October 14 against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. The Gryphons (4-0) now also sit one win away from qualifying for the U SPORTS Championships, which will feature the top two teams from the OUA, and is set to take place November 2nd to 5th in Lethbridge, Alberta.
Source: gryphons.ca
Brock 76 Toronto 7
The Brock University women's rugby team ended the regular season on a high as they defeated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues by the score of 76-7 Saturday afternoon on the road.
The Badgers led 28-0 at the half before erupting for 48 second half points on route to a perfect 4-0 regular, the best finish in school history.
"This was a great day for Brock women's rugby," said second year head coach Stefanie Pavlovich. "We will enjoy today and get back to work this week as we prepare for the York Lions in the OUA 1/4 Finals on the road."
Leading the Brock offense was the trio of Taylour Hurd, Katelyn Heyens and Jenna Rainville who all recorded three tries each. Meagan Hart contributed with 13 points adding a try and four converts. Taylor Knezevich (4 converts), Lauren Wilks (1 try) and Kaylah Moehling (1 try) closed out the scoring
Source: gobadgers.ca
Other Scores:
Laurier 32 Trent 36