Marauders edge Ottawa, join StFX in final at CIS women’s rugby championship

GUELPH, Ont. (CIS) – The McMaster Marauders will have a chance to capture the first Monilex Trophy in program history on Sunday thanks to a 17-12 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the final game of the preliminary round at the CIS women's rugby championship, Saturday afternoon, at the University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium.

In Sunday's title match at 2 p.m., OUA champion McMaster, which finished first in Pool B with a 2-0 record, will face the St. Francis Xavier X-Women (2-0), who earlier on Saturday edged Western 27-24 to win Pool A.

It will mark the second appearance in the national final for the Marauders, who had lost 15-10 to the home team the only previous time the tournament was held in Guelph, in 1998.

In their first-ever appearance at the CIS tourney, the RSEQ champion Gee-Gees will battle Western for bronze Sunday at noon.

McMaster got off to a fast start and led 17-5 at halftime. The Marauders dominated in the early goings thanks to some solid offloads and continuity that exposed some huge holes in the Ottawa defence.

A try in the third minute from Rina Charalampis (Hamilton) followed by a conversion from Stephanie Black (Oakville, Ont.) put the Marauders up 7-0 right out of the gates.

In the 10th minute, McMaster would add to their lead thanks to a nice run by talented second-year winger Saffara Whiteley-Hoffelner (Richmond Hill, Ont.). Whiteley-Hoffelner, who electrified the crowd with a bone-crunching hit in the opening half, also showcased some good speed and size on the offensive attack with a 25-metre run for a try to give the Marauders a 12-0 lead.

After a slow start, Ottawa came to life in the 22nd minute thanks to a try from Danielle Erdelyi (Chesterville, Que.) that trimmed the deficit to seven.  But the Marauders answered six minutes later with a try by Abigail Moody (Toronto) to go back to the locker room up 17-5.

In the second half, the Gee-Gees tested the McMaster defence time and time again. Casey Jones (Surrey, B.C.), a StFX alum who is now pursuing her Master's in Economics at Ottawa, scored a try in the 47th minute to cut the deficit to five.

Over the course of the final 20-plus minutes, the Gee-Gees were unable to tie things up as McMaster's defence continually found a way to relieve pressure. In the dying moments, the RSEQ champs had possession deep in McMaster territory, but once again the Marauder defence came through by driving the ball carrier out of bounds. 

Despite some great ball retention in the second half, the Gee-Gees were unable to translate their efforts into another try as they fall just short.

After the match, first-year McMaster head coach Shaun Allen said, "It was a tale of two halves. In the first half, we definitely had more open space to attack. In the second, we basically defended for 30 of the 35 minutes.  But our forwards were outstanding in the second half, repelling attack after attack while not taking too many penalties. Really proud of the team's effort today."

"We are disappointed at the moment but need to focus now on finding a way to shut down Lori Josephson and the Western Mustangs tomorrow," said Ottawa's Jennifer Boyd, the CIS coach of the year, whose troops suffered their first loss of the campaign.

Player-of-the-game honours for McMaster went to Whiteley-Hoffelner, while Simone Savary got the nod for Ottawa.

Source: CIS