GAME 1 Pool A: 2009 CIS women’s rugby championship: Defending champ Pronghorns off to flying start

VANCOUVER (CIS) – The two-time defending Monilex trophy champion Lethbridge Pronghorns left little doubt in their intentions this weekend with a convincing 51-3 victory over the Western Ontario Mustangs in the opening pool-A game of the 2009 CIS women’s rugby championship at the University of British Columbia, Friday morning.

Wing Brittany Orr of Fort MacLeod, Alta., who was named tournament MVP when Lethbridge captured its first national title in 2007, led the parade to the try line with three scores for the dominant ‘Horns as they raced out to a 29-0 advantage at the end of the first 25-minute half.

Orr found the end zone in the 11th minute with an incisive run down the left sideline for a 12-0 lead before scoring just four minutes later to make it 17-0. She added her third try of the game early in the second half as the ‘Horns notched another 22 points in the second period before the OUA finalist Mustangs finally got on the board with a late penalty goal.

“We performed very well and we came into this game just trying to worry about our performance. For us it always starts on defence and our girls did a great job with that and they really played within themselves today,” said Pronghorns head coach Neil Langevin, who was named the CIS coach of the year on Thursday night.

“We have a lot of weapons on the field but I thought Brittany was outstanding today and Andrea Letal was also very good even though she didn’t score,” added Langevin, whose team outscored its Canada West opponents 333-7 in six overall match-ups this fall.

Ashley Patzer, who was named CIS player of the year for the second time in her illustrious career Thursday evening, set the tempo early for the ‘Horns with a great individual effort to open the scoring in the third minute. The fifth-year captain and senior national team member from Lethbridge chipped the ball over the Western defence and chased down her effort, falling on the ball in the end zone for the game’s first score. Freshman Laura Murphy-Burke of Surrey, B.C., made the first of her four converts to give the tournament favourites a 7-0 lead.

Kelsey Willoughby, the 2009 Canada West rookie of the year who also hails from Lethbridge, tallied in the 17th minute with a run through the heart of the UWO line before all-Canadian Ashley MacDonald of Mt. Stewart, P.E.I., capped off a relentless Lethbridge first half with a try in the 25th minute.

Substitute Kenzi Ralph, a freshman from Raymond, Alta., made her impact quite quickly after the break with a long run down the sideline into the end zone just three minutes into the second frame. Murphy-Burke added a penalty and Shannon Court of Red Deer County, Alta., also scored for Lethbridge in the second half.

Western sophomore Martha Goodrow of Aurora, Ont., ended the shutout bid with a penalty goal in the 48th minute.

The 51-point outburst by Lethbridge was the sixth highest single-game tally in championship history, and the best offensive output since Western blanked Laval 53-0 in the preliminary round of the 2006 tournament. The Pronghorns’ previous high in 16 all-time duels at the CIS tourney was a 39-3 semi-final victory over Guelph a year ago.

The most points the Mustangs had allowed in 27 previous outings at the national championship was 38, in a 38-6 gold-medal loss to Alberta in 2002.

The Mustangs (0-1) now face a must-win situation against the Quebec champion Concordia Stingers (0-0) in their second and last Pool-A game, Friday at 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time. The ‘Horns (1-0) re-take the field at 3 p.m. to battle the Stingers.

The two teams with the best records at the end of pool play advance to Saturday’s semi-finals.

SCORING SUMMARY
LETH 29-22: 51
UWO 0-3: 3

First half
1. LETH: Ashley Patzer (try, 5 points), Laura Murphy-Burke (convert, 2)
2. LETH: Brittany Orr (5)
3. LETH: Brittany Orr (5)
4. LETH: Kelsey Willoughby (5), Laura Murphy-Burke (2)
5. LETH: Ashley MacDonald (5)

Second half
6. LETH: Kenzie Ralph (5)
7. LETH: Brittany Orr (5), Laura Murphy-Burke (2)
8. LETH: Laura Murphy-Burke (penalty goal, 3)
9. LETH: Court (5), Laura Murphy-Burke (2)
10. UWO: Martha Goodrow (3)

Players of the game
LETH: Brittany Orr (Fort Macleod, Alta.)
UWO: Sarah Verrault (Ottawa, Ont.)

ROUND-ROBIN STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL: PACIFIC)

Pool A
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. Lethbridge 1 1 0 0 51 3 5
2. Concordia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3. Western 1 0 1 0 3 51 0

Pool B
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. StFX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2. Guelph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3. UBC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

NOTE: 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, and 1 bonus point is allowed for a loss by 7 points or less.

Friday, Nov. 6
Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge 51, Western Ontario 3
10:00 Round-Robin Pool B: StFX vs. UBC
12:30 Round-Robin Pool A: Concordia vs. Western Ontario
12:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Guelph vs. UBC
15:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge vs. Concordia
15:00 Round-Robin Pool B: StFX vs. Guelph

Saturday, Nov. 7
11:00 semi-final 1: first place Pool A vs. second place Pool B (SSN Canada webcast)
13:00 semi-final 2: second place Pool A vs. first place Pool B (SSN Canada webcast)

Sunday, Nov. 8
10:00 5th place: third place Pool A vs. third place Pool B
12:00 Bronze medal (SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Championship final (SSN Canada webcast)

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