Photo credit StFX Athletics
OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns
will try to become the second team in history to capture four
straight Monilex trophies later this week when the best of Canadian
Interuniversity Sport women’s rugby gather in Peterborough,
Ont., for the 2010 national championship.
It will mark the first-ever CIS championship hosted by Trent
University – in any sport.
The event kicks off Wednesday night with the All-Canadian Awards
Banquet and culminates with the gold-medal final Sunday at 2 p.m.
All nine games from the tournament will be webcast by SSN Canada
(www.ssncanada.ca).
The six-team tourney moves to a new format this year for the first
time since women’s rugby was added to the CIS program in
1998. Instead of the top two finishers from each pool advancing to
semi-finals following the preliminary round, the first-place squads
from Pools A and B will move directly to the title match, while the
second-place teams will battle for bronze.
Three-time reigning champion Lethbridge (6-0) enjoyed another
sensational season in 2010 on its way to a fifth straight Canada
West banner. The Pronghorns outscored their opponents 253-48 in six
overall duels, including an 18-5 win over Alberta in the conference
final.
Only one team in history has hoisted the Monilex trophy as CIS
champions at the end of four consecutive seasons. The Alberta
Pandas were crowned five straight times from 1999 to 2003.
The StFX X-Women (7-0), who dropped the last two CIS finals to
Lethbridge, once again top the list of contenders hoping to stop
the ‘Horns dominance.
The X-Women, CIS champions in 2006, were even more dominant this
fall in the Atlantic conference outscoring opponents 463-6 in seven
overall contests, including a 57-0 gold-medal win over Acadia for
their 13th AUS title in 13 years.
Joining Lethbridge and StFX in Peterborough are the OUA champion
Guelph Gryphons (8-0), RSEQ champion Concordia Stingers (8-0), OUA
finalist Queen’s Gaels (7-1), as well as the championship
host Trent Excalibur (0-4-1).
Guelph beat Queen’s 54-5 in the OUA final for its third
straight conference title and its 11th in 15 years. The
Gryphons, who claimed the inaugural CIS title back in 1998, have
medalled at the national championship five years running, including
third-place finishes each of the past three seasons.
Concordia returns to the CIS championship for the third time in
four years - including a fourth-place finish in 2009 - after edging
Laval 13-8 in the Quebec title match.
Queen’s and Trent will both make their first-ever CIS
tournament appearances.
Lethbridge has been grouped in Pool A with Concordia and
Queen’s for the round-robin portion of the 2010 CIS
championship, while StFX, Guelph and Trent make up Pool B.
Lethbridge opens its title defence against Queen’s Thursday
at 11 a.m. The second opening-day match will see StFX battle host
Trent at 1 p.m.
For all the info on the 2010 CIS women’s rugby championship,
visit: www.cis-sic.ca
Note: a complete championship preview will follow on
Tuesday.
POOLS
Pool A
Lethbridge Pronghorns (Canada West champions: 4-0 regular season /
2-0 playoffs)
Concordia Stingers (RSEQ champions: 6-0 regular season / 2-0
playoffs)
Queen’s Gaels (OUA finalists: 5-0 regular season / 2-1
playoffs)
Pool B
St. Francis Xavier X-Women (AUS champions: 6-0 regular season / 1-0
playoffs)
Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions: 5-0 regular season / 3-0
playoffs)
Trent Excalibur (Championship hosts: 0-4-1 regular season / missed
playoffs)
CHAMPIONSHIP
SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Nov. 3
18:00 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (Great Hall, Champlain College,
Trent University)
Thursday, Nov. 4
11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge vs. Queen’s (SSN Canada
webcast)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: StFX vs. Trent (SSN Canada webcast)
Friday, Nov. 5
11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Loser Pool A #1 vs. Concordia
(SSN Canada webcast)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Loser Pool B #1 vs. Guelph (SSN Canada
webcast)
Saturday, Nov. 6
11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Winner Pool A #1 vs. Concordia (SSN
Canada webcast)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Winner Pool B #1 vs. Guelph (SSN Canada
webcast)
Sunday, Nov. 7
10:00 5th place: Third place Pool A vs. third place Pool B (SSN
Canada webcast)
12:00 Bronze medal: Second place Pool A vs. second place Pool B
(SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Championship final: First place Pool A vs. first place Pool B
(SSN Canada webcast)
- CIS -