OUA playoff roundup: NO. 3 Gryphons advance to OUA championship

The No. 3 nationally-ranked Guelph Gryphon women's rugby team trounced the No. 9 Queen's Gaels in a 56-3 OUA semifinal win on Saturday afternoon at the University of Guelph.

The Gryphons record improves to 7-0 on the season (5-0 regular season, 2-0 post-season).

The Gryphons will now host the OUA championships for the second year in a row against the Western Mustangs who defeated the McMaster Marauders 26-17, in Saturday's other semifinal game.

Guelph had an excellent offensive game with tries coming from both forwards and backs. They were able to dominate in the scrums which allowed for great pressure. Queen's held tough though and showed some great attacking potential whenever they got the ball in their hands.

The Gryphons ability to create turnovers and attack with pace proved to be too much for the Gaels defence. Gryphon tries came from Jacey Murphy (Alliston, Ont.), Jane Kirby (Brampton, Ont.), Caitlin Beaton (Hepworth, Ont.), Jenna Livingston (Hillsburgh, Ont.), Mimi Rahneva (Ottawa), Brittany Benn (2) of Napanee, Ont., Brittany Sammut (Port Colborne, Ont.) and Caitlin (Katie) McNally (Guelph, Ont.).

Benn was able to add six more points from converts on a very windy day. Queen's points came from ex-Gryphon, current Queen's player Michelle Gauer (Calgary).

Murphy was again a dominant force in the win. She put so much pressure on Queen's fly-half, they were unable to get any offensive momentum in the game. Her crushing tackles led to some quick turnovers that Guelph was able to turn into points.

The defending OUA champion Gryphons will look to continue on their path to another OUA title next week when host the OUA championships against the Western Mustangs.

The CIS Nationals will be hosted by the University of British Columbia from Nov. 5-8.

WESTERN 26, MCMASTER 17

At McMaster, the No. 7 Western Mustangs won their second straight playoff road game with a 26-17 road win against the No. 6 Marauders on Oct. 24.

With the win, the Mustangs booked a ticket to the national championships hosted by UBC Nov. 5-8. Western also advances to the OUA final at Guelph on Oct. 31 at 1 p.m.

Martha Goodrow (Aurora, Ont.) led Western with one try and three converts for 11 points.

Other tries came from Liz Wilson (Ottawa), Monica Munro (New Glasgow, N.S.) and rookie sensation Laurie Biewald (Ottawa).

Source:

Guelph Gryphons, Western Mustangs