Game 2 Pool B CIS women’s rugby championship: Gryphons too much for OUA rival Mac

Photo credit Matt Stetson

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. (CIS) – The Guelph Gryphons were simply too much for OUA rival McMaster in their first outing at the 2011 CIS women’s rugby championship, dominating the Marauders 53-19 at Trent University’s Justin Chiu Stadium, Friday afternoon.

The Gryphons will face the Laval Rouge et Or (1-0) Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for first place in pool B and a spot in Sunday’s Monilex trophy final. The Marauders (0-2), who lost 24-10 to Laval on Thursday, will play Trent (0-2) for fifth place Sunday at 10 a.m.

In a rematch of last Saturday’s OUA championship match, won 36-5 by Guelph, the Gryphons were never really in danger as they took a 24-12 lead into the halftime break before scoring the first 18 points of the second period to put the game away.

Guelph wasted no time to get on the board as hook Mary Jane Kirby of Brampton, Ont., powered her way through the McMaster defence for a try in the third minute, which Stephanie Tibelius of Ottawa converted for a 7-0 advantage.

McMaster responded 10 minutes later when CIS rookie of the year Cindy Nelles of Belleville, Ont., made it over the try line for the unconverted score.

The Gryphons answered right back however with two quick tries – only one converted - by veteran fullback Britt Benn of Napanee, Ont., in the 15th and 25th minutes, to increase its lead to 19-5.

An unconverted try by Guelph native Caitlin McNally in the 30th minute made it 24-5, before Allison McFadden of Barrie, Ont., cut the deficit to 24-12 just before the break with a powerful run over the Guelph defenders.

The Gryphons pulled away early in the second frame.

Stephanie Tibelius scored a penalty goal in the 39th minute which opened the floodgates for three consecutive tries, including McNally’s second of the game and the first for Brittany Sammut of Port Colborne, Ont., and Morganne Linthwaite of Guelph.

With eight minutes remaining, McMaster freshman Emily Ricketts of Oakville, Ont., brought some excitement to the contest as she streaked down the sideline, scoring on a 35-metre run. But it was much too little, much too late for the OUA finalists.

Stephanie DeVries of Arris, Ont., rounded out the scoring for the Gryphons with a 67th-minute try.

“I thought the girls made great decisions on attack throughout the game,” said Guelph head coach Collette McAuley. “We stuck to the game plan we laid out and used that to get the jitters out in our first game at the championship. The nerves are gone and we’re looking to carry momentum into our game tomorrow.”

Benn’s two-try performance garnered her player-of-the-game honours for Guelph, while scrum half Kim Ngai of Markham, Ont., was named match MVP for McMaster.

GAME NOTES: The Gryphons have medalled each of the past six years at the CIS championship including one silver (2006) and five bronze... Guelph won the inaugural CIS championship in 1998 – which remains its lone Monilex trophy title – thanks to a 15-10 gold-medal win over McMaster... In the only previous CIS championship match between Guelph and Laval, in 2008, the Gryphons prevailed 22-12 to claim the bronze medal... The Marauders are making their first appearance at the CIS tournament since their silver medal in 1998... In eight OUA regular season and playoff contests this fall, the Gryphons outscored their rivals 595-20...

SCORING SUMMARY
GUE: 24-29: 53
MAC: 12-7: 19

First half
GUE: Mary-Jane Kirby try (Stephanie Tibelius convert) 3rd minute
MAC: Cindy Nelles try 13th
GUE: Britt Benn try 15th
GUE: Britt Benn try (Stephanie Tibelius convert) 23rd
GUE: Caitlin McNally try 30th
MAC: Allison McFadden try (Cindy Nelles convert) 35th

Second half
GUE: Stephanie Tibelius penalty goal 39th
GUE: Caitlin McNally try (Stephanie Tibelius convert) 48th
GUE: Brittany Sammut try 56th
GUE: Morganne Linthwaite try (Stephanie Tibelius convert) 60th
MAC: Emily Ricketts try (Cindy Nelles convert) 62nd
GUE: Stephanie de Vries try (Stephanie Tibelius convert) 67th

Players of the game
GUE: Britt Benn
MAC: Kim Ngai

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

POOL STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Pool A
  GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. StFX  1 1 0 0 76 3 5
2. Lethbridge 1 1 0 0 35 0 5
3. Trent  2 0 2 0 3 111 0

Pool B
  GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. Guelph 1 1 0 0 53 19 5
2. Laval 1 1 0 0 24 10 4 
3. McMaster 2 0 2 0 29 77 0

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, Nov. 3
10:30 Round-Robin Pool A: StFX 76 Trent 3
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Laval 24 McMaster 10

Friday, Nov. 4
10:30 Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge 35 Trent 0
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Guelph 53 McMaster 19

Saturday, Nov. 5
10:30 Round-Robin Pool A: StFX vs. Lethbridge (SSN Canada webcast)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Laval vs. Guelph (SSN Canada webcast)

Sunday, Nov. 6
10:00 5th place: Trent vs. McMaster (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-