Game 2 Pool B CIS women’s rugby championship: First-timer Gee-Gees eliminate host Gryphons

Courtesy of University of Guelph Athletics / Photo credit Karen Stepien

GUELPH, Ont. (CIS) – Playing in their first-ever game at the CIS women’s rugby championship, the Ottawa Gee-Gees survived a late surge by tournament host Guelph to defeat the Gryphons 21-15 in the fourth game of the national competition at Alumni Stadium, Friday afternoon.

The Gee-Gees (1-0), who captured the first RSEQ conference title in program history last weekend, will face the OUA champion McMaster Marauders (1-0) Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for first place in Pool B and a spot in Sunday’s Monilex Trophy final at 2 p.m.

Guelph (0-2), which lost 15-13 to McMaster in its opener on Thursday, is eliminated from medal contention and will face Alberta for fifth place Sunday at 10 a.m. It marks the end of a remarkable run of success at the national championship for the Gryphons, who had reached the CIS podium in each of the last eight seasons, including one gold (2011), three silver (2013, 2012, 2006) and four bronze medals (2010, 2009, 2008, 2007).

The Gee-Gees took an 11-5 advantage to the locker room at halftime and increased their lead to 21-5 in the second half but saw the locals score a pair of try in the final seven minutes to make for an interesting finish.

Although the Gryphons were able to control play in the opening half, they were unable to capitalize on their possession within Ottawa’s 22. 

Thanks to their ‘bend-but-don’t-break’ defence, the Gee-Gees were able to limit Guelph to just one try, by Devon Stober, in the opening 35 minutes.

From an attacking standpoint, leading the way for Ottawa was fourth-year fullback Irene Patrinos (Mississauga, Ont.) who, despite the tough conditions, produced the most impressive kicking performance of the tournament thus far. Patrinos split the uprights on a pair of penalty kicks in the first half, including a make from 36-metres out. 

Danielle Erdelyi had the Gee-Gees only try of the opening period.

After the break, Patrinos connected on her third penalty kick of the game and Allison MacCormack (Orangeville, Ont.) added a try to put Ottawa up 21-5. 

For the Gryphons, Brittany Kassil (Guelph, Ont.) was an imposing force all match long. Aside from electrifying the crowd with the biggest collision of the game, Kassil would also punch through the Gee-Gees defence for a try in the 63rd minute to trim Guelph’s deficit to 11. 

The scoring play seemed to spark the Gryphons, who made a furious comeback attempt late in regulation. Alexandra King (Ottawa, Ont.) scored with two minutes left to make it 21-15, but that’s as close as the locals would get.

Moments later, the Gryphons were one clean pass away from another try, but a handling error on the outside proved costly. 

The crowd at Alumni Stadium would come alive one last time when Jennifer Dunn (West Vancouver, B.C.) raced down the sideline only to be forced out of bounds deep within Ottawa territory. 

Megan Copeland-Dinan (Ottawa, Ont.) was named player of the game for the winners. Kassil received the same honour in a losing cause.

While rainy conditions made ball handling a challenge, Guelph head coach Colette McAuley was nevertheless frustrated with her team’s performance stating, “you can’t win games when all you’re doing is dropping the ball.”

Ottawa’s Jennifer Boyd, who was named CIS coach of the year on Wednesday, saw her young Gee-Gees continue to turn some heads in CIS rugby circles. 

“None of the girls have ever been here before. We told them to enjoy it and just try to be better every game. We are going to try to enjoy this one for a few hours, but the focus has already shifted to recovering and getting ready for McMaster.” 

SCORING SUMMARY
OTT 11-10: 21
GUE 5-10: 15

First half
OTT – Irene Patrinos penalty kick 4th minute (OTT 3 - GUE 0)
OTT – Danielle Erdelyi try 7th (conversion no good) - (OTT 8 - GUE 0)
GUE – Devon Stober try 18th (conversion no good) - (OTT 8 - GUE 5)
OTT – Irene Patrinos penalty kick 35th (OTT 11 - GUE 5)

Second half
OTT – Irene Patrinos penalty kick 40th (OTT 14 - GUE 5)
OTT – Allison MacCormack try 45th (Irene Patrinos conversion) - (OTT 21 - GUE 5)
GUE – Brittany Kassil try 63rd (conversion no good) – (OTT 21 - GUE 10)
GUE – Alexandra King try 68th (conversion no good) – (OTT 21 - GUE 15)

Players of the game
OTT: Megan Copeland-Dinan
GUE: Brittany Kassil

Legend:
Try: 5 points
Penalty goal: 3 points
Convert: 2 points

POOL STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS

NOTE 1: 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.
NOTE 3: 1 bonus point is awarded for a loss by 7 points or less.

Thursday, Oct. 30
10:30 Pool A: Western 22, Alberta 19
13:30 Pool B: McMaster 15, Guelph 13

Friday, Oct. 31
10:30 Pool A: StFX 41, Alberta 17
13:30 Pool B: Ottawa 21, Guelph 15

Saturday, Nov. 1
10:30 Pool A: Western vs. StFX (CIS-SIC.tv)
13:30 Pool B: McMaster vs. Ottawa (CIS-SIC.tv)

Sunday, Nov. 2
10:00 Fifth place: Alberta vs. Guelph (CIS-SIC.tv)
12:00 Bronze medal: 2nd Pool A vs. 2nd Pool B (CIS-SIC.tv)
14:00 Championship final: 1st Pool A vs. 1st Pool B (CIS-SIC.tv)

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, over 11,500 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:

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