By Trent University sports information / Photo credit Matt Stetson
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. (CIS) – The AUS champion St. Francis
Xavier X-Women got off to a great start in Pool B at the CIS
women’s rugby championship as they cruised to a 37-0 win over
the tournament host Trent Excalibur, Thursday afternoon, at Trent
University’s Justin Chiu Stadium.
The X-Women, 13-time champions in as many years in the Atlantic
conference, are on a mission this week in Peterborough. StFX, which
captured its lone Monilex trophy in 2006, returned to the national
final each of the past two seasons, only to lose to Lethbridge on
both occasions.
Against Trent – making its first-ever appearance at the CIS
tourney – Courtnay Malcolm of New Glasgow, N.S., opened the
scoring only four minutes in with a try that was converted by
freshman Magali Harvey of Quebec City, and the X-Women never looked
back.
Right after the ensuing kickoff, the X-Women used their fast-paced
off-loading game to move the ball back deep into Trent territory.
Hooker Julie Emmerson of Moncton, N.B., followed the ball to the
wide side of the field and drove the ball in to establish a lead
which StFX never in danger of relinquishing.
Amanda Bedard of Belleisle, N.B., then quickly scored her first try
on a long-slashing run around the end of the Trent defence. Just as
it looked as if the AUS champions were going to run away to one of
the high final scores that they are used to achieving against their
league rivals, the Excalibur seemed to dig down and get back into
the game. Kristine Boyles of Peterborough repeatedly kicked
clearing balls to touch to give her team breathing room.
Not until late in the half did Amanda Thornborough of Brandon,
Man., score another try to give the X-Women a 22-0 halftime
lead.
Early in the second half, Harvey, who was a threat every time she
touched the ball, scored and it appeared that her team was about to
be able to score at will.
Well-placed kicks from Boyles and scrum half Ashley Burton, also of
Peterborough, continued to gain territory for Trent while the
forwards counter-rucked fiercely throughout the rest of the
game.
Thornborough and Bedard both scored again however, as the X-Women
backs demonstrated their strength and speed in sealing their 37-0
win.
Players of the match were Thornborough for StFX and
Peterborough’s Ashley Burton for Trent.
X-Women head coach Mike Cavanagh gave the Trent team full credit
for playing hard right to the end. He credited much of his
team’s success to his three back row players and stated that
his squad will need to work at getting even more clean balls to his
backs in their next game against Guelph.
Trent coach Nancy Marcotte stated that she was proud of the way her
players never quit and felt that they had earned some respect from
the quality of their play. The game turned on several narrowly
missed tackles against the much more experienced X-Women, seven of
whom play for the Canada U20’s.
The win gives StFX (1-0) the early preliminary round lead in Pool
B. The X-Women now enjoy a well-deserved break until Saturday at
1:30 p.m., when they will face the OUA champion and 2009 CIS bronze
medallist Guelph Gryphons (0-0) in their second and final Pool B
duel.
Trent faces Guelph Friday at 1:30 p.m.
The top teams in Pools A and B at the end of the preliminary round
advance directly to Sunday’s championship final.
In the Pool A opener earlier Thursday, three-time defending CIS
champion Lethbridge (1-0) edged Queen’s (0-1) 15-12 in
overtime.
Queen’s faces Concordia (0-0) Friday at 11 a.m. in the lone
Pool A matchup of Day 2, while Lethbridge and Concordia will square
off on Saturday morning.
SCORING
SUMMARY
SFX: 22-15: 37
TRE: 0-0: 0
First half
1. SFX: Courtnay Malcolm (5), Magali Harvey (2)
2. SFX: Julie Emmerson (5)
3. SFX: Amanda Bedard (5)
4. SFX: Amanda Thornborough (5)
Second half
5. SFX: Emma Taylor (5)
6. SFX: Amanda Thornborough (5)
7. SFX: Amanda Bedard (5)
Players of the game
SFX: Amanda Thornborough (Brandon, Man.)
TRE: Ashley Burton (Peterborough, Ont.)
Legend:
(5) Try: 5 points
(3) Penalty goal: 3 points
(2) Convert: 2 points
POOL STANDINGS,
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Pool A (after 1 of 3 games)
GP
W
L
PF
PA PTS
1. Lethbridge
1
1
0
15
12 4
2. Concordia
0
0
0
0
0 0
3. Queen’s
1
0
1
12
15 1
Pool B (after 1 of 3 games)
GP
W
L
PF
PA PTS
1.
StFX 1
1
0
37
0
5
2. Guelph
0
0
0
0
0 0
3.
Trent
1
0
1
0
37
0
NOTE: A win is worth 4 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.
Thursday, Nov. 4
11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge 15, Queen’s 12
(OT)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 37, Trent 0
Friday, Nov. 5
11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Queen’s vs. Concordia (SSN Canada
webcast)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Trent vs. Guelph (SSN Canada webcast)
Saturday, Nov. 6
11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge vs. Concordia (SSN Canada
webcast)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 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-