Photo credit Matt Stetson
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. (CIS) – The OUA champion Guelph
Gryphons used a dominating second half to defeat the tournament
host Trent Excalibur 37-5 in their first pool-play game at the CIS
women’s rugby championship, Friday afternoon.
The result eliminates Trent (0-2) from medal contention as the
Excalibur, making their first-ever appearance at the national
championship, had already lost to StFX by 37-0 in their Pool B
opener on Thursday. Trent will close out the competition on Sunday
with a fifth-place duel against Queen’s.
Guelph (1-0) will square off against StFX (1-0) Saturday at 1:30
p.m. for first place in Pool B and a spot in Sunday’s
gold-medal final.
Named the CIS payer of the year earlier this week, eight man Jacey
Murphy of Alliston, Ont., scored a pair of second-half tries to
lead the charge for the Gryphons, who were only up 10-5 at halftime
but exploded with 27 unanswered points after the break.
Rose Harris of Colborne, Ont., freshman Dominique Monaghan of
Markham, Ont., Mirela Rahneva of Ottawa, Lindsay Peebles of
Oakville, Ont., and rookie Sharon Rafferty of Brantford, Ont., also
had tries for the winners, while freshman Shannon Spurrel of Haley
Station, Ont., added a convert.
Mallory Gunning, a sophomore lock from Toronto, scored the lone try
for Trent, tying the affair at 5-5 early on.
Playing aggressive, disciplined team defence, Trent managed to shut
down the relentless pressure of the Guelph attack inside the Trent
22 for the opening 15 minutes.
Harris finally managed to get the ball down in the corner of the
Trent goal to make it 5-0 Gryphons.
Trent then was able to put some offensive pressure on its OUA
rival, using well-placed kicks and multiple phases of ruck ball to
keep possession on the Guelph side of centre. Kristine Boyles of
Peterborough, Ont., repeatedly kicked to relieve pressure on her
team.
At the 27-minute mark, Gunning touched down after scrum-half Ashley
Burton had taken the ball to the Guelph goal line from a five-metre
scrum.
With Guelph’s Stephanie DeVries yellow carded, the Excalibur
were able to maintain the pressure and not until their own Whitney
Black was sent off did Monaghan score to put Guelph into a 10-5
lead.
Guelph, responding to the wake-up call, took only five minutes in
the second half to add to its cushion when Murphy charged the ball
in after the Gryphons had won the ball against the head on
Trent’s five-metre line. Spurrel converted the try.
Murphy soon scored again after a spirited run and good pass from
Guelph native Katie McNally.
The final 15 minutes of the game saw Trent defending courageously
inside their 22 and on the goal line. Rahneva scored on a twisting
run to the corner after Trent had stopped three drives on their
goal line.
Guelph scored twice more with four minutes remaining.
Guelph coach Colette McAuley commented after the game that it was a
good chance for her team to get rid of the jitters.
“The girls needed a tight game to let them work on keeping
their composure. We were able to work on our execution and prepare
for the big games to come.”
Craig Harris, assistant Trent coach, was jubilant despite the
result.
“That’s the best first half we’ve played all
year,” said Harris, whose troops lost 65-0 to Guelph early in
the regular season. “Our kids played with intensity and fire.
We proved to ourselves today that we can run with the big dogs. In
the end, Guelph just had too many well coached, good athletes to be
denied but we’re still proud of our efforts against two
nationally ranked, undefeated teams.”
Players of the match were Mirela Rahvena for Guelph and Lauren
Wizowski of Lindsay, Ont., for Trent.
SCORING
SUMMARY
GUE 10-27: 37
TRE 5-0: 5
First half
1. GUE: Rose Harris (5)
2. TRE: Mallory Gunning (5)
3. GUE: Dominique Monaghan (5)
Second half
4. GUE: Jacey Murphy (5), Shannon Spurrel (2)
5. GUE: Jacey Murphy (5)
6. GUE: Mirela Rahneva (5)
7. GUE: Lindsay Peebles (5)
8. GUE: Sharon Rafferty (5)
Players of the game
GUE: Mirela Rahneva (Ottawa, Ont.)
TRE : Lauren Wizowski (Lindsay, Ont.)
Legend:
(5) Try: 5 points
(3) Penalty goal: 3 points
(2) Convert: 2 points
POOL STANDINGS,
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Pool A (after 2 of 3 games)
GP
W
L
PF
PA PTS
1. Concordia
1
1
0
32
3 5
2. Lethbridge
1
1
0
15
12 4
3. Queen’s
2
0
2
15
47 1
Pool B (after 2 of 3 games)
GP
W
L
PF
PA PTS
1.
StFX
1
1
0
37
0
5
2. Guelph
1
1
0
37
5 5
3.
Trent
1
0
2
5
74
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: Concordia 32, Queen’s
3
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Guelph 37, Trent 5
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: Queen’s vs. Trent (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-