GAME 2 POOL B: 2009 CIS women’s rugby championship: Gryphons survive, settle Pool B semi-finalists

VANCOUVER (CIS) – Brittany Benn’s 50-yard dash to the end zone against the flow of play lifted the Guelph Gryphons by an impassioned UBC Thunderbirds side by a score of 5-0 in the second of three Pool-B matches at the 2009 CIS women’s rugby championship, Friday afternoon at the University of British Columbia.

The win moves the OUA champion Gryphons (1-0) into Saturday’s semi-finals while the tournament host Thunderbirds (0-2), who lost 18-0 to AUS champion StFX in their opener earlier Friday, will play for fifth place on Sunday against the Western Ontario Mustangs (0-2), third-place finishers in Pool A.

Guelph and StFX (1-0) face off Friday at 3 p.m. Pacific Time for first place in Pool B. The pool champions will face the Group A runners up in Saturday’s second semi-final at 1 p.m. Pacific Time, while the Pool B second-place finishers will battle the top Pool A squad at 11 a.m.

Concordia (1-0) and two-time defending national champion Lethbridge (1-0) square off Friday at 3 p.m. for Pool A supremacy.

SSN Canada will have live webcasts of both semis (www.ssncanada.ca  or www.cis-sic.ca ).

UBC controlled the play for the majority of the match against Guelph, rarely letting the Gryphons cross midfield.

Then, with the Thunderbirds pressing midway through the second half, the Gryphons stole a line out on their side of half. The ball came to two-time all-Canadian Benn, who beat a tackler on her side of the line before sprinting to the sideline away from the UBC tacklers. The speedster from Napanee, Ont., eluded the final opponent and made her way across the try line.

Neither team could establish an effective attack due in part to the muddy fields at Thunderbird Park.

“It was an ugly win. The momentum was non-existent, partly due to the conditions,” explained Guelph head coach Collette McAulay. “We have to leave that game behind us. Going forward we need to step up, play the conditions and follow the game plan that we’ve given them.”

Unable to capitalize on the imbalanced time of possession, a resilient Thunderbirds side continually threatened in their opponents end. The Gryphons were equal to the task and used strong tackling to continuously thwart their opponents’ persistent attack.

“It was an amazing effort by our girls today. We had two tough teams in our pool and we played them hard. I think it’s a testament to the strength of the Canada West conference,” said UBC head coach Lesley McKenzie, whose side had been defeated by StFX an hour prior to taking on the Gryphons.

Guelph was handed three yellow cards throughout the match but UBC was unable to take advantage of the extra player.

GAME NOTES: Guelph and UBC were meeting at the tournament for the first time since a 15-0 Gryphons’ win in the preliminary round of the inaugural CIS championship in 1998... The Gryphons, who claimed their lone Monilex trophy in 1998 with a 15-10 gold-medal victory over McMaster, advance to the semi-final round for the first straight year... Guelph has reached the CIS podium four years running with a silver medal in 2006 and third-place finishes in 2008, 2007 and 2005.

SCORING SUMMARY
GUE 0-5: 5
UBC 0-0: 0

First half
No Scoring

Second half
1. GUE: Brittany Benn (try, 5 pts)

Players of the game
GUE: Jacey Murphy (Alliston, Ont.)
UBC: Radha Jain (Mississauga, 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 1 1 0 0 10 0 4
3. Western 2 0 2 0 3 61 0

Pool B
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. StFX 1 1 0 0 18 0 4
2. Guelph 1 1 0 0 5 0 4
3. UBC 2 0 2 0 0 23 1

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
Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 18, UBC 0
Round-Robin Pool A: Concordia 10, Western Ontario 0
Round-Robin Pool B: Guelph 5, UBC 0
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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