VANCOUVER (CIS) – Two-time CIS player of the year
Ghislaine Landry scored a try in the second overtime period to lift
the St. Francis Xavier X-Women to a thrilling 13-8 over the
Concordia Stingers in the second semi-final of the CIS
women’s rugby championship, Saturday afternoon at the
University of British Columbia’s Thunderbird Stadium.
The 12-time AUS champion X-Women, who claimed their lone Monilex
trophy as national gold medallists in 2006, will battle the
two-time defending CIS champion Lethbridge Pronghorns Sunday at 2
p.m. Pacific Time., in a rematch of last year’s title match
won 29-15 by Lethbridge.
StFX, which beat Guelph 10-5 in the 2006 final, is 1-1 all-time in
CIS gold-medal matches. Lethbridge is 2-1 including last
season’s victory over StFX, a 15-10 win over western in 2007
and a 20-3 loss to Alberta in 2003.
Quebec champion Concordia, whose best result in three previous CIS
tournament appearances was a fourth-place finish in the inaugural
championship in 1998, will face OUA champion Guelph in the
bronze-medal game Sunday at 12 p.m. Pacific.
SSN Canada will have live webcasts of both Sunday duels
(www.ssncanada.ca or www.cis-sic.ca).
Trailing Concordia 8-0 at the half, StFX came back to tie the game
on a last-minute penalty goal by Courtnay Malcolm of New Glasgow,
N.S.
After both team failed to score in the first 10-minute extra
period, Landry ended the affair midway through the second
sudden-death frame. The 2007 and 2008 CIS MVP received a pass on
the right wing and turned on the jets, streaking 30 yards down the
sidelines and through two tacklers for the try.
The X-Women were down by eight with less than 10 minutes to go in
regulation, with offence hard to come by for both sides thanks to
heavy rain and a muddy field at Thunderbird Stadium. But as the
rain subsided late in the second half, the StFX attack woke up.
With eight minutes remaining, Lisa Gauthier of St. Bernadin, Ont.,
received the ball on the right wing after a five-yard StFX scrum
and broke a tackle before diving across the try line to get her
side on the board.
With the score 8-5 and less than two minutes left on the clock,
Malcolm stepped up to attempt a potential game-tying penalty goal
from 25 yards out. Her attempt fell short and was wide left, but
she got a chance to redeem herself just before the final
whistle.
With the game on the line the X-Women were awarded another penalty
attempt from 25 yards, and this time Malcolm made no mistake,
splitting the uprights to send the game to overtime.
“It was a really defensive battle,” said StFX head
coach Mike Cavanagh. “The field was pretty mucky so we
couldn’t do too much offensively but the girls stuck in there
after being down 8-0, coming back strong in the second half.
I’m really proud of the girls for sticking in there, but I
still think we can play better rugby so we are looking forward to
tomorrow.”
Concordia dictated the pace of the first half, opening the scoring
on a penalty goal by all-Canadian Jackie Tittley of Kirkland, Que.,
eight minutes in.
The Stingers extended their lead to 8-0 when they were awarded a
penalty try as the first half expired. StFX’s Jess Jacobs was
carded on the play, leaving the X-Women shorthanded for the first
ten minutes of the second half.
“They controlled the first half and were very physical so we
knew we had to become more physical too,” said Cavanagh.
“Once we matched them at the physical level good things
started to happen for us so I’m impressed with the way we
came back.”
SCORING SUMMARY
StFX 0-8-0-5: 13
CON 0-8-0-0: 8
First half
1. CON: Jackie Tittley (penalty goal, 3 pts)
2. CON: Team (penalty try, 5 pts)
Second half
3. StFX: Lisa Gauthier (try, 5 pts)
4. StFX: Courtnay Malcolm (penalty goal, 3 pts)
First Overtime (10 minutes – sudden death)
No scoring
Second Overtime (10 minutes – sudden
death)
5. Ghislaine Landry (try, 5 pts)
Players of the game
StFX: Ghislaine Landry (Toronto, Ont.)
CON: Sarah Nesbitt (Regina, Sask.)
ROUND-ROBIN
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL:
PACIFIC)
Pool A (final)
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. Lethbridge 2 2 0 0 66 3 9
2. Concordia 2 1 1 0 10 15 4
3. Western 2 0 2 0 3 61 0
Pool B (final)
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. StFX 2 1 0 1 28 10 6
2. Guelph 2 1 0 1 15 10 6
3. UBC 2 0 2 0 0 23 1
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
Round-Robin Pool B: Guelph 5, UBC 0
Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge 15, Concordia 0
Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 10, Guelph 10
Saturday, Nov. 7
Semi-final 1: Lethbridge 25, Guelph 0
Semi-final 2: StFX 13, Concordia 8 (2OT)
Sunday, Nov. 8
10:00 5th place: Western Ontario vs. UBC
12:00 Bronze medal: Guelph vs. Concordia (SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Championship final: Lethbridge vs. StFX (SSN Canada
webcast)
- CIS -
SEMI-FINAL 2: 2009 CIS womens rugby championship: StFX wins in 2OT, joins Lethbridge in final
Posted: Nov 07, 2009