GAME 2 POOL A: 2009 CIS women’s rugby championship: Stingers shutout Mustangs, settle Pool A semi-finalists

VANCOUVER (CIS) – The Quebec champion Concordia Stingers clinched a semi-final spot for the second time in team history at the 2009 CIS women’s rugby championship with a 10-0 victory over the Western Mustangs in their first of two Pool-A duels, Friday afternoon at the University of British Columbia.

The shutout loss eliminated the Mustangs from medal contention. Western dropped its opener 51-3 earlier Friday against the two-time defending Monilex trophy champion Lethbridge Pronghorns.

The Stingers and Pronghorns face off at 3 p.m. Pacific Time for first place in Pool A. The first-place finishers will face the second best Pool-B team in Saturday’s first semi-final at 11 a.m. Pacific Time, while the runners up will battle the Pool-B champions at 1 p.m.

SSN Canada will have live webcasts of both semis (www.ssncanada.ca  or www.cis-sic.ca ).

The Stingers and top-seeded Lethbridge Pronghorns will represent Pool A in Saturday’s semi-finals with the winner of their 3:00 p.m. game earning top spot in pool play.

The QSSF champion Stingers used stifling defence and just enough first half offence to put away a Western squad that rebounded with a strong effort following their lopsided defeat to the Lethbridge.

“I thought we were outstanding. We left a lot of points out there but we talked about dictating scrums, taking them on up front and we did that for a full 50 minutes today,” said Concordia head coach Graeme McGravie, whose program advanced to the semi-final of the inaugural CIS championship back in 1998, when Concordia settled for fourth place following a 30-10 semi-final loss to Guelph and a 27-20 bronze-medal against UBC.

“We didn’t give up a lot of points all season. Defence is something the girls worked really hard at every night in practice and we knew it would put us in good stead when we got here.”

Both Concordia tries came at the end of continued possession deep in the Mustangs territory with the Stingers wearing out the UWO defence.

Ali Olshefsky, a fourth-year flanker from Montreal, opened the scoring midway through the first half, diving across the try line from one yard out. Sophomore Sarah Scanlon of St. Bruno, Que., made it 10-0 just before the break with her try following a similar script to that of Olshefsky.

Despite not being able to find any more points in the second half, the Singers relied on their sure tackling and solid team defence to keep the Mustangs under wraps over the final 25 minutes.

Jackie Tittley, a 2009 all-Canadian from Kirkland, Que., who made 22 converts during the QSSF season, was 0-for-2 in the match, a testament to the tough playing conditions on the muddy, wind swept fields at UBC.

GAME NOTES: Western, which took fifth place a year ago in Lethbridge, Alta., went 0-2 in pool play at the CIS championship for the second consecutive season after making six straight semi-final appearances from 2002 to 2007.

SCORING SUMMARY
CON 10-0: 10
UWO 0-0: 0

First half
1. CON: Ali Olshefsky (try, 5 points)
2. CON: Sarah Scanlon (5)

Second half
No scoring

Players of the game
CON: Hughanna Gaw (Elgin, Que.)
UWO: Stephanie Bailey (Peterborough, Ont.)

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 1 1 0 0 10 0 4
3. Western 2 0 2 0 3 61 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
Round-Robin Pool A: Concordia 10, Western Ontario 0
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)

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