Photo credit Ian MacAlpine
KINGSTON, Ont. (CIS) – Led by CIS player of the year Cindy Nelles of Bellevile, Ont., the McMaster Marauders had no trouble getting past the Lethbridge Pronghorns in the second quarter-final of the CIS women's rugby championship, winning 62-14 on Thursday afternoon at Nixon Field in Kingston.
The OUA champion Marauders advance to Saturday's 3 p.m. semifinal where they will take on the Ottawa Gee-Gees, who earlier in the day eliminated 2014 national champion StFX.
Lethbridge heads to the consolation side and will face another tough challenge as StFX awaits Saturday at 11 a.m.
"The main thing was the pace we were able to play at. We moved in and out of rucks and took advantage of the space we had available," said Marauder head coach Shaun Allen. "Being able to replace our front row was huge. Last year we weren't able to do that as we were in tight games and our starters logged heavy minutes so we will see some benefit from that on Saturday and Sunday."
At the 2014 national championship in Guelph, the Marauders reached the title match where they dropped a 43-34 decision to StFX.
First-year Lethbridge head coach Ric Suggitt credited their opponent after the game. "They're better than we are. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. They have a great program, a really good team. They should go to the final. We came in here as the underdog and we were hoping to get a few bounces but we got caught like deer in the headlights."
TheMarauders didn't take long to get on the scoreboard as they took the opening drive down for a try scored by Stephanie Black (Oakville, Ont.) to take a 7-0 lead.
After the next five minutes of play, the young Lethbridge lineup began to settle into the game. McMaster continued to march down the field however and added to their early lead with back-to-back tries from Selena Seguin (Brantford, Ont.) and Ashley Gordon (Brampton, Ont.). The two scores were just two minutes apart to open up a 19-0 advantage.
Next it was Nelles, who got in on the action with back-to-back tries in the 21st and 24th minutes to build the Marauders' advantage to 31.
All-Canadian Katie Svoboda (Belleville, Ont.) got on the board as well before the break when she took a Nelles pass down the field for another try, bringing the Marauders lead to 38-0 heading into halftime.
The second half saw the Marauders continue their strong play and score 24 more points, which included tries from four different players. Allen had the luxury to get substitutes into the action to keep his starters fresh for the weekend.
Lethbridge finally got on the board four minutes into the second period when Frederique Tremblay (Calgary) scored her first of two second-half tries, which were both successfully converted by Samantha Wright (Lethbridge, Alta.).
Nelles was selected player of the game for McMaster. Tremblay took the nod for Lethbridge.
SCORING SUMMARY
MAC 38-24: 62
LTH 0-14: 14
First half
MAC - Stephanie Black try (Stephanie Black convert) 1st minute (MAC 7 - LTH 0)
MAC - Selena Seguin try 11th (MAC 12 - LTH 0)
MAC - Ashley Gordon try (Stephanie Black convert) 13th (MAC 19 - LTH 0)
MAC - Cindy Nelles try 21st (MAC 24 - LTH 0)
MAC - Cindy Nelles try (Stephanie Black convert) 24th (MAC 31 - LTH 0)
MAC - Katie Svoboda try (Stephanie Black convert) 30th (MAC 38 - LTH 0)
Second half
MAC - Abigail Moody try 1st (MAC 43 - LTH 0)
LTH - Frederique Tremblay try (Samantha Wright convert) 4th (MAC 43 - LTH 7)
MAC - Heidi Henderson try (Stephanie Black convert) 6th (MAC 50 - LTH 7)
MAC - Mackenzie Wiens try (Ashley Gordon convert) 12th (MAC 57 - LTH 7)
MAC - Maddy Seatle try 27th (MAC 62 - LTH 7)
LTH - Frederique Tremblay try (Samantha Wright convert) 34th (MAC 62 - LTH 14)
Players of the game
MAC: Cindy Nelles (Belleville, Ont.)
LTH: Frederique Tremblay (Calgary, Alta.)
Legend:
Try: 5 points
Penalty goal: 3 points
Convert: 2 points
PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING
1. Acadia (AUS champions: 5-1 regular season / 2-0 conference playoffs)
2. McMaster (OUA champions: 4-1 regular season / 3-0 conference playoffs)
3. Ottawa (RSEQ champions: 7-0 regular season / 2-0 conference playoffs)
4. Victoria (Canada West champions: 2-2 regular season / 2-0 conference playoffs)
5. Concordia (RSEQ finalists: 6-1 regular season / 1-1 conference playoffs)
6. StFX (AUS finalists: 5-1 regular season / 0-1 conference playoffs)
7. Lethbridge (Canada West finalists: 0-3-1 regular season / 1-1 conference playoffs)
8. Queen's (Hosts: 4-1 regular season / 1-2 conference playoffs)
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Thursday, Nov. 5
13:00 Quarter-final 1: Ottawa 29, StFX 7
15:00 Quarter-final 2: McMaster 62, Lethbridge 14
17:00 Quarter-final 3: Concordia vs. Victoria (CIS-SIC.tv)
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Queen's vs. Acadia (CIS-SIC.tv)
Friday, Nov. 6
Rest day
Saturday, Nov. 7
11:00 Consolation 1: StFX vs. Lethbridge (CIS-SIC.tv)
13:00 Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4 (CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Semifinal 3: Ottawa vs. McMaster (CIS-SIC.tv)
17:00 Semifinal 4: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (CIS-SIC.tv)
Sunday, Nov. 8
11:00 Fifth place (CIS-SIC.tv)
13:00 Bronze medal (CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Championship final (CIS-SIC.tv)
