McMaster falls to St. Francis Xavier, earns silver medal at CIS women’s rugby championship

GUELPH, Ont. (CIS) – Tournament MVP Emma Taylor of Scotsburn, N.S., scored two tries as the St. Francis Xavier X-Women captured their fourth Monilex Trophy thanks to a spectacular 43-34 win over the McMaster Marauders in the highest-scoring CIS women's rugby final in history at the University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium, Sunday afternoon. 

The 17-time AUS conference champions, now 4-3 all-time in CIS gold-medal games including previous triumphs in 2006, 2010 and 2012, return home to Antigonish, N.S., with a perfect 3-0 record at this year's national tournament, having defeated Alberta 41-17 on Friday and Western 27-24 on Saturday in pool play. 

For their part, the OUA champion Marauders settle for CIS silver for the second time in program history. They had lost to Guelph 15-10 on home turf in Hamilton in the final of the inaugural CIS championship, back in 1998. 

The 77 combined points easily shattered the previous record of 44 in the CIS title match, a mark set in 2003 when Alberta dominated Western 38-6, and tied in 2008 when Lethbridge beat StFX 29-15. Alberta's 38 points in 2003 was the previous record for one team in the national final. 

Taylor, a fifth-year second row playing in her final university game, was the obvious choice for MVP after she finished the competition with a tournament-high seven tries. In Saturday's Pool A finale against Western, the AUS player of the year had saved the day for StFX with a game-winning try in the dying seconds of the contest. 

In a back-and-forth gold-medal game, the X-Women took a slim 24-19 lead to the locker room at halftime thanks to three tries – all converted - and a penalty kick, compared to three tries – two of them converted – for McMaster. 

StFX never gave up the lead in the second half, adding another three tries – two of them converted – while the Marauders added two tries – one converted – and a penalty kick. 

Winning head coach Mike Cavanagh was thrilled with his team's execution of the game plan. 

"We tried to put pressure on the 9, 10 and 12 to keep them from getting the ball to the back three because we knew they have some game-breakers on the outside." 

Shaun Allen, in his rookie season as McMaster bench boss, said that he will look back on the campaign fondly

"We have an OUA banner, a silver medal from the CIS championship and we graduate just one player." 

The Marauders came into the match knowing they would have to rely on the speed of their back line if they were to upset a powerful StFX team that is led by some strong forward play. 

After a Sabrina McDaid penalty kick in the fifth minute gave StFX an early 3-0 lead, McMaster scored the first try of the afternoon thanks in large part to its player of the game, Saffara Whiteley-Hoffelner (Richmond Hill, Ont). 

In the 13^th minute, Whiteley-Hoffelner got a StFX defender to bite on a brilliant ball fake before sprinting 40-metres down to the 2-metre line, where she off-loaded to Katie Svoboda (Belleville, Ont.) for the score. 

With McMaster up 12-10 after the teams exchanged tries, Whiteley-Hoffelner was at it again in the 25^th minute with another highlight-reel run, which she would this time finish off herself for a 19-10 Marauders advantage.

In vintage StFX fashion, the X-Women were able to establish great continuity as they methodically worked their way down the pitch. Two tries towards the end of the first half, one by freshman Joanna Alphonso (Ajax, Ont.) and the other by Taylor gave AUS champs a 24-19 edge after an entertaining first 40 minutes.

In the second half, the crowd of nearly 1,000 erupted when bruising forward Alphonso found herself in open space on the wing. The AUS rookie of the year rumbled 30 yards down the pitch before off-loading to Caitlain Blanchard (Halifax), who took it the rest of the way for the try to put the X-Women up 31-19. 

In the 55^th minute, McMaster answered with a gorgeous show-and-go by Emily Ricketts (Oakville, Ont.) that cut the deficit to five.

Over the final 25 minutes of the match, StFX found a way to limit McMaster's possession outside of the 15's. With the game now turning into a forward-dominated contest, the X-Women were growing more and more comfortable while the long McMaster runs were nowhere to be found. 

In the 60^th minute, Alphonso once again barrelled her way toward the try line. After she was brought down just short, Catherine MacKeigan (Toronto) finished off the drive with the try to put StFX up 38-26. 

Taylor ended any hopes of a McMaster comeback in the 74^th minute with her seventh try of the weekend that made it 43-29.

With the outcome no longer in doubt, the Marauders tacked on a late try in the 80^th and final minute from Svoboda.

Source: CIS