5th-PLACE GAME CIS championship: Gaels crush Trent, finish fifth

By Trent University sports information / Photo credit Matt Stetson

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. (CIS) – The Queen’s Gaels dominated the tournament host Trent Excalibur 53-5 to finish in fifth place at the CIS women’s rugby championship, on Sunday morning.

Both Ontario rivals were making their first-ever appearance at the national championship in 2010, and had gone 0-2 in the preliminary round.

Already up 10-0 at halftime, the OUA finalist Gaels exploded for 43 points after the break, including two tries apiece for Melanie Weiss of Silver Valley, Alta., Karlye Wong and Jocelyn Poirier, both of Ottawa.

Queen’s dominated the first half while Trent defended courageously deep in their own end. Ashley Ward of Barrie, Ont., charged the ball from a five-metre scrum to notch the first points at the 20 minute mark for the Gaels, and Taylor White of Bancroft, Ont., touched the ball down on a similar play with three minutes left to complete the opening half scoring.

In the second period, Andrea Wadsworth of Toronto and Susan Heald of Burlington, Ont., had single tries to go with Weiss, Wong and Poirier’s scores. Annika Rinas of Oakville, Ont., added three converts, while Rachelle Kranenburg of Lucknow, Ont., had one.

Lauren Wizowski of Lindsay, Ont., tallied Trent’s lone try late in the game.

Players of the match were Heald for Queen’s and Whitney Black of Belleville, Ont., for Trent.

Gaels head coach Beth Barz was pleased that her fourth and fifth-year players could end their careers on such a strong note.

Trent coach Nancy Marcotte was naturally disappointed that Trent’s season ended the way it did but expressed confidence that her young team learned valuable lessons about the amount of effort and off-season training that will be required to compete at this level.

SCORING SUMMARY
QNS 10-43: 53
TRE 0-5: 5

First half
1. QNS: Ash Ward (5)
2. QNS: Taylor White (5)

Second half
3. QNS: Melaina Weiss (5), Annika Rinas (2)
4. QNS: Andrea Wadsworth (5), Annika Rinas (2)
5. QNS: Jocelyn Poirier (5), Annika Rinas (2)
6. QNS: Karlye Wong (5)
7. QNS: Susan Heald (5)
8. QNS: Jocelyn Poirier (5), Rachelle Kranenburg (2)
8. TRE: Lauren Wizowski (5)
10. QNS: Karlye Wong (5)

Players of the game
QNS: Susan Heald (Burlington, Ont.)
TRE: Whitney Black (Belleville, Ont.)

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

POOL STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Pool A (FINAL after Saturday)
                 GP W L PF PA PTS
1. Concordia 2 2 0 51 15 9
2. Lethbridge 2 1 1 27 31 5
3. Queen’s 2 0 2 15 47 1

Pool B (FINAL after Saturday)
            GP W L PF PA PTS
1. StFX  2 2 0 55 17 9 
2. Guelph 2 1 1 54 23 6
3. Trent  2 0 2 5 74 0 

NOTE: A win is worth 4 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.

Thursday, Nov. 4
11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge 15, Queen’s 12 (OT)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 37, Trent 0

Friday, Nov. 5
11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Concordia 32, Queen’s 3
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Guelph 37, Trent 5

Saturday, Nov. 6
11:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Concordia 19, Lethbridge 12
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 18, Guelph 17

Sunday, Nov. 7
10:00 5th place: Queen’s 53, Trent 5
12:15 Bronze medal: Lethbridge vs. Guelph (SSN Canada webcast)
14:30 Championship final: Concordia vs. StFX (SSN Canada webcast)

-CIS-