September 22, 2014

W-RUGBY ROUNDUP: Warriors earn draw against Shiels Division rival Gryphons

Friday, September 19

McMaster 36 @ York 12

Toronto, ON - Dorrian Khouri scored a pair of tries but it wasn't enough on Friday night (Sept. 19) as the York University Lions women's rugby team was defeated 36-12 by the visiting McMaster Marauders at the York Rugby Field.

The loss drops the Lions to 1-2 on the year, while the Marauders continue their undefeated season and now sit at 3-0 and atop the OUA Russell Division standings.

The Lions played a strong defensive game for much of the contest and were close early in the second half, with the score at 17-12. But the experienced Marauders turned up the intensity with some late tries to cruise to victory.

In addition to Khouri's (Brampton, Ont.) 10 points, Alexis Boltsis (Mississauga, Ont.) converted one kick for the other two Lions points.

Five different Marauders scored tries in the game. Heidi Henderson (Stirling, Ont.) tallied a pair, while Sara Svoboda (Belleville, Ont.), Cindy Nelles (Belleville, Ont.),Saffara Whiteley-Hoffelner (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Rina Charalampis (Hamilton, Ont.) each scored one.

Svoboda also converted three kicks for the remaining six points.

Source: York Lions

Saturday, September 20

Waterloo 22 @ Guelph 22

Guelph, Ont. – The Gryphon women's rugby team tied the Waterloo Warriors 22-22 on Saturday afternoon in Guelph.

Jennifer Dunn (West Vancouver) finished with two tries and one convert to lead the scoring for Guelph while Emily Samek (Hamilton, Ont.) and Chloe Runge (Guelph, Ont.) eached added a try.

The Gryphons received the starting kickoff against the Waterloo warriors this Saturday in a hard fought battle. Throughout the first half Guelph controlled the game and grinded out three team tries, with forwards committing and wearing down the Warrior pack, and the backs taking advantage of overlaps in the defensive line. The warriors received two tries in the first half after working their way down the field with hard rucking forwards and unlucky penalties on the gryphons side.

In the second half Guelph came out with a hard flat line of defence to disrupt the Warriors offence and turned the ball over within one phase of the second half. The Gryphons worked their way into the Warriors 22 but with an unlucky couple of penalties, Waterloo kicked for territory to bring the play back to the gryphons half. The gryphons held off the warriors with a hard goal line defence but throughout the second half gave up one more try and a penalty goal tying the 2 teams at 22 to end the game.

Source: Guelph Gryphons

Trent 26 @ Brock 22

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University women's rugby team (0-3 OUA) dropped a 26-22 decision to the Trent Excalibur Saturday afternoon at the 2014 Brock University Homecoming. The Badgers had a large contingent of former players on hand to watch both the men's and women's games.

Trent went up early in the contest and led 26-10 midway through the second half. The young Brock squad battled back with 12 unanswered points to make it a four-point game, but it was the Excalibur holding on for the road victory improving their OUA regular season record to 2-1.

The Badgers had their biggest offensive output of the season as Maddy Biggs, Lauren Kniewasser, Brit Mels and Chelsea Braithewaite all adding single trys, with Meagan Hart contributing with a convert.

Scoring for Trent were Allison Barbalinardo and Isabella Decotiis with two trys each. Celeigh Harris converted on three of her four extra point attempts finishing with six points on the afternoon.

Source: Brock Badgers

Laurier 13 @ Western 75

LONDON, Ont. – With the support of the Homecoming crowd, Western women's rugby team defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks 75-13 on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.

With the win, the Mustangs improve to 2-1 standing on the season and move up to second place in the Shiels division, while the Golden Hawks drop to 1-2 and remain in fourth place.

Setting the tone for the remainder of the game, the Mustangs were first to get on the scoreboard, with second-year player Tegan Williams scoring the first try less then five minutes into the game. Lori Josephson followed up with an additional try for the Mustangs less than ten minutes later to give the home side an early 10-0 lead.

Laurier responded a few minutes later with a penalty goal from Jennifer Gilmour, before Ashley Snider struck back with another try for the Mustangs in the 23rd minute. The two teams continued trading points as Natalie Snyder recorded a try for the Golden Hawks, followed by a conversion by Gilmour, to cut Western's lead to 15-10. However the Mustangs were undaunted, responding to Laurier's try with two tries and two conversions of their own to give them a 29-10 lead at halftime.

The Mustangs controlled much of the second half, only allowing an additional penalty kick from the Golden Hawks, while continuing to put points on the scoreboard. The purple and white offence added eight tries and three conversions in the second half to seal a 75-13 victory.

The game's top scorers were Western's Breanne Nicholas who contributed two tries and three converts for 16 total points, while Josephson recorded 15 points off of three tries.

"I was really pleased with Lori Josephson" says coach Mike Hopper. "She's our fifth-year captain, she really took the team on her back there when things were a little scrappy and scored a bunch of tries for us and really helped settle the whole team down." Hopper was at the helm for today's game as Mustangs head coach Natascha Wesch was in Montreal being inducted into the Concordia University Sports Hall of Fame.

Source: Western Mustangs

Queens 81 @ Toronto 0

TORONTO (September 20, 2014) - With three tries and seven conversions, Lauren McEwen (Wasaga Beach, Ont.) led the No. 4 Queen's Gaels (2-1) to an 81-0 victory against the Toronto Varsity Blues (0-3) on Saturday night under the lights in Toronto.

The Gaels had a strong offensive first half with McEwen putting the first try and conversion on the board in the fifth minute. Queen's picked up momentum with a deluge of tries and conversions from McEwen, Karley Heyman (Harrowsmith, Ont.), Melody Clarke (Barrie, Ont.), Miranda Seifert (Regina) and Jordyn Rowntree (Aurora, Ont.). The first half ended with the Gaels already ahead 40-0.

The Gaels didn't let up in the second half with an immediate try from Samantha Ellis (Truro, N.S.) completed by a conversion by McEwen. McEwen followed up with a try and conversion of her own. Seifert scored herself two more conversions for the Gaels in the second half. Lizzie Thomson (Plainfield, Ont.), Emma Chown (Barrie, Ont.) and Jenna Ledson (Cookstown, Ont.) also scored tries for Queen's. The game ended as a dominant 81-0 shutout for the Gaels.