5th place CIS women’s rugby championship: Marauders dominate host Excalibur, finish fifth

Photo credit Matt Stetson

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. (CIS) – The McMaster Marauders dominated the tournament host Trent Excalibur 64-5 on Sunday morning in the fifth-place match of the CIS women’s rugby championship, at Justin Chiu Stadium.

The Marauders, who came into the tourney as OUA finalists, had lost 24-10 to Laval and 53-19 to Guelph in the preliminary round to finish third in pool B. McMaster was competing on the national stage for only the second time in school history, 13 years after claiming silver at the inaugural CIS championship in 1998.

The Excalibur took third place in pool A following defeats at the hands of StFX, 76-3, and Lethbridge, 35-0. Trent ends the championship with an 0-3 record for the second straight year.

Sara Berry of East York, Ont., paced the Marauders on Sunday with three tries en route to McMaster player-of-the-game honours.

Maggie Cogger-Orr of Thornhill, Ont., and Hannah Braithwaite of Kingston, Ont., added two tries apiece, while Cindy Nelles of Belleville, Ont., all-Canadian Natasha Turner of Rockcliffe, Ont., and Claire Lockhart of Waterloo, Ont., also hit pay dirt for the winners.

Nelles, the reigning CIS rookie of the year, added seven converts to finish with a game-high 19 points.

Andi Luke of Warsaw, Ont., scored the Excalibur’s first try of the tournament in the 51st minute.

“I’m happy the girls got a win in their last game, it’s nice for our seniors to finish with a win,” said Marauders head coach Cam Mitchell. “The season was a building year for us and I was happy with our outcomes all season and especially today. We had a chance to let all of our girls experience the national tournament today and that should help moving forward.”
Nelles put McMaster on the board with a try and the ensuing convert four minutes into the affair and the Marauders never looked back on their way to a commanding 33-0 lead at halftime.

The Excalibur hoped to respond as they marched the ball down to within feet of the McMaster goal, but the aggressive Marauders defence was able to steal the ball, denying the opportunity.

After 18 scoreless minutes, McMaster exploded for four tries in 12 minutes to put the game away.

Turner did the heavy lifting on the second score of the match with a 40-metre run. Several phases later, Braithwaite was able to touch the ball down between the posts for a converted try.

Cogger-Orr made it 19-0, and then Berry added her first two tries of the day before the break, including one on a spectacular 30-metre run.

Cogger-Orr’s second try of the game and a Nelles convert made it 40-0 seven minutes into the second period.

The Excalibur then gave the hometown fans something to cheer for when they used tough mauling to drive down near the try line. Luke touched the ball down moments later to put the local favourites on the board.

Berry completed her “hat trick” in the 66th minute, and Turner, Lockhart and Braithwaite rounded out the scoring in the final 10 minutes.

SCORING SUMMARY

MAC: 33-31: 64
TRE: 0-5: 5

First half
MAC: Cindy Nelles try (Cindy Nelles convert) 4th minute
MAC: Hannah Braithwaite try (Cindy Nelles convert) 22nd
MAC: Maggie Cogger-Orr try 27th
MAC: Sara Berry try (Cindy Nelles convert) 30th
MAC: Sara Berry try (Cindy Nelles convert) 34th

Second half
MAC: Maggie Cogger-Orr try (Cindy Nelles convert) 47th
TRE: Andi Luke try 51st
MAC: Sara Berry try (Cindy Nelles convert) 66th
MAC: Natasha Turner try 70th
MAC: Claire Lockhart try 77th
MAC: Hannah Braithwaite try (Cindy Nelles covert) 80th

Players of the game
MAC: Sara Berry
TRE: Kaitlin Newton

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

POOL STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Pool A (FINAL)

GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. StFX 2 2 0 0 96 8 9
2. Lethbridge 2 1 1 0 40 20 5
3. Trent 2 0 2 0 3 111 0

Pool B (FINAL)

GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. Guelph 2 2 0 0 91 22 10
2. Laval 2 1 1 0 27 48 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 20 Lethbridge 5
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Laval vs. Guelph (SSN Canada webcast)

Sunday, Nov. 6
10:00 5th place: McMaster 64 Trent 5
12:00 Bronze medal: Lethbridge vs. Laval (SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Championship final: StFX vs. Guelph (SSN Canada webcast)

-CIS-