5th-PLACE GAME: 2009 CIS women’s rugby championship: T-Birds shut out Mustangs to finish fifth

VANCOUVER (CIS) – All-Canadian Radha Jain’s three-try performance led the UBC Thunderbirds to a 27-0 win over the Western Ontario Mustangs on Sunday, giving the ‘Birds a fifth-place finish at the CIS women’s rugby championship.

It took the UBC offence most of the first half to get going, as they nursed a 3-0 lead until the 38th minute when Jain (Mississauga, ON) broke the game open. She took the ball just inside her own half of the field and raced down the right wing, side-stepping one Western defender on her way to the try.

She improved on that effort with a 70 yard run just one minute later, again streaking down the right wing for the score. Michelle Helmeczi (Vancouver, BC) added two points with the conversion and UBC led 15-0 at the end of the half.

UBC continued to keep the heat on Western in the second half, adding two more tries and a conversion while never allowing the Mustangs to get anything going offensively.

Darcy Patterson (North Vancouver, BC) found paydirt in the 55th minute with another long scoring run for UBC. She ran down the right wing from midfield, cutting back inside to beat a Western defender about 20 yards from the line, giving herself a clear road to the end zone. Helmeczi converted to make it 22-0, and Jain picked up her third try of the day in the 71st minute, diving on a loose ball in the end zone to make it a 27-0 lead for the home side.

“We had a choice between being happy to just be here as hosts and come in sixth as we were seeded, or proving that we actually deserved to be here,” said UBC head coach Lesley McKenzie. “We are a strong team and I think the girls were unlucky not to make the semi-finals but we definitely sorted out some of our issues and we were able to put some points up today to show our strength.”

Helmeczi opened the scoring with a penalty goal in the 7th minute for UBC, and was two-for-four in conversion attempts on the day.

The Guelph Gryphons and Concordia Stingers will play for CIS bronze at 12:00 p.m., and the St. Francis Xavier X-Women will battle the two-time defending champion Lethbridge Pronghorns for the national title at 2:00 p.m. Both games are at Thunderbird Stadium.

SCORING SUMMARY
UBC 15-12: 27
UWO 0-0: 0

First half
1. UBC: Michelle Helmeczi (penalty kick, 3 pts)
2. UBC: Radha Jain (try, 5 pts)
3. UBC: Radha Jain (try, 5 pts), Michelle Helmeczi (convert, 2 pts)

Second half
4. UBC: Darcy Patterson (try, 5 pts), Michelle Helmeczi (convert, 2 pts)
5. UBC: Radha Jain (try, 5 pts)

Players of the game
UBC: Maggie Ritchie (Vancouver, B.C.)
UWO: Laura Russell (Bolton, Ont.)

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

For all the information on the championship: www.cis-sic.ca

Final Pool A standings
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. Lethbridge 2 2 0 0 66 3 9
2. Concordia 2 1 1 0 10 15 4
3. Western 2 0 2 0 3 61 0

Final Pool B standings
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. StFX 2 1 0 1 28 10 6
2. Guelph 2 1 0 1 15 10 6
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
Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge 15, Concordia 0
Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 10, Guelph 10

Saturday, Nov. 7
Semi-final 1: Lethbridge 25, Guelph 0
Semi-final 2: StFX 13 Concordia 8 (2OT)

Sunday, Nov. 8
5th place: UBC 27, Western Ontario 0
12:00 Bronze medal: Guelph vs. Concordia
14:00 Championship final: Lethbridge vs. StFX

- CIS -