VANCOUVER (CIS) – The 2008 silver medallist St. Francis
Xavier X-Women are one step closer to returning to the national
final following an 18-0 shutout of tournament host UBC in the
Pool-B opener of the CIS women’s rugby championship, Friday
morning.
The X-Women, who outscored their Atlantic conference opponents
423-26 this fall on their way to a 12th consecutive AUS banner,
were heavy favourites on paper against the Thunderbirds but a
spirited effort by the hosts kept the game’s result in
question until late in the second half.
“Defensively we were pretty sound. UBC is a good team and we
knew they would give us a tough game but offensively we
didn’t adapt to the weather,” said StFX head coach Mike
Cavanagh, who led his team to its lone Monilex trophy title in
2006. “We were trying to make plays in this weather that just
weren’t possible and it showed in our offensive performance.
We need to keep things a lot tighter in our next game and play for
territory. We don’t need to try and run 80 metres
out.”
Territory was hard to come by in a back and forth first half that
saw the X-Women take a 3-0 lead on a penalty goal by third-year
wing Courtney Malcolm of New Glasgow, N.S.
Following the game’s opening score, there was little to give
between the two sides until StFX was awarded a penalty try just
before the break. Freshman Tyson Beukeboom scored and a Malcolm
convert made it 10-0 at the half.
The hard-fought affair continued in the second frame but with the
T-Birds unable to generate any points off their possession, the
X-Women pulled away with a try from two-time CIS player of the year
and four-time all-Canadian Ghislaine Landry of Toronto, and another
penalty goal by Malcolm.
Despite the shutout loss, UBC head coach Lesley McKenzie saw a lot
of positives in her team’s performance.
“The majority of the points we gave up came from our
penalties so that is something completely fixable before our next
game,” said the second-year boss and former T-Bird standout.
“StFX is a very good team but I thought we were able to put a
good amount of pressure on them. Our ability to get the ball in
contact from them was really good and it gave us a fair bit of
possession.”
The X-Women (1-0) get a break before taking on the OUA champion
Guelph Gryphons (0-0) at 3 p.m. Pacific Time, while the T-Birds
(0-1) are back at it in a must-win game against Guelph at 12:30
p.m.
The two teams with the best records at the end of Pool-B play
advance to Saturday’s semi-finals.
SCORING SUMMARY
StFX 10-8: 18
UBC 0-0: 0
First half
1. StFX: Courtnay Malcolm (penalty goal, 3 points)
2. StFX: Tyson Beukeboom (penalty try, 5 points), Malcolm (convert,
2 points)
Second half
3. StFX: Courtnay Malcolm (3)
4. StFX: Ghislaine Landry (5)
Players of the game
StFX: Jamee George (Brandon, Man.)
UBC: Lauren Nutt (Victoria, B.C.)
ROUND-ROBIN
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL:
PACIFIC)
Pool A
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. Lethbridge 1 1 0 0 51 3 5
2. Concordia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3. Western 1 0 1 0 3 51 0
Pool B
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. StFX 1 1 0 0 18 0 4
2. Guelph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3. UBC 1 0 1 0 0 18 0
NOTE: a win is worth 4 points and a tie 2 points.
NOTE 2: 1 bonus point is awarded for scoring 4 tries or more in a
game, and 1 bonus point is allowed for a loss by 7 points or
less.
Friday, Nov. 6
Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge 51, Western Ontario 3
Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 18, UBC 0
12:30 Round-Robin Pool A: Concordia vs. Western Ontario
12:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Guelph vs. UBC
15:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge vs. Concordia
15:00 Round-Robin Pool B: StFX vs. Guelph
Saturday, Nov. 7
11:00 semi-final 1: first place Pool A vs. second place Pool B (SSN
Canada webcast)
13:00 semi-final 2: second place Pool A vs. first place Pool B (SSN
Canada webcast)
Sunday, Nov. 8
10:00 5th place: third place Pool A vs. third place Pool B
12:00 Bronze medal (SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Championship final (SSN Canada webcast)
- CIS -
GAME 1 Pool B: 2009 CIS womens rugby championship: X-Women blank host UBC in opener
Posted: Nov 06, 2009