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SEMI-FINALS CIS championship: Lethbridge, StFX to play for gold
By University of Lethbridge sports information office
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. (CIS) - The tournament host Lethbridge Pronghorns
will get a chance to defend their CIS women's rugby title Sunday
afternoon when they face the St. Francis Xavier X-Women in a
gold-medal final between the last two national champions.
Championship web site:
www.universitysport.ca/e/championships/w_rugby/2008
The three-time reigning Canada West champion 'Horns, who claimed
the first Monilex Trophy in team history a year ago in London,
Ont., with a 15-10 gold-medal win over Western, easily defeated the
Guelph Gryphons 39-3 Saturday morning in the first semi-final of
the 2008 tournament to advance to the CIS title match Sunday at 2
p.m. Mountain.
The 11-time AUS champion X-Women, who captured their lone Monilex
Trophy two years ago, also in London, with a 10-5 victory over
Guelph, had an equally easy time in the second semi-final of the
day outscoring the Laval Rouge et Or 36-5.
OUA champion Guelph and Quebec champion Laval will play for CIS
bronze Sunday at 12 p.m., while the Western Ontario Mustangs and
Alberta Pandas will battle for fifth place at 10 a.m.
Lethbridge and StFX have squared off at the CIS championship twice
in the past, with the Pronghorns coming out on top of a pair of
two-point semi-final affairs, 5-3 a year ago and 13-11 back in
2003.
The 'Horns are 1-1 in two previous CIS final appearances, including
their 2007 triumph over Western and a 20-3 loss to Alberta in 2003,
while the X-Women's title run in 2006 marked the only time they
reached the championship game.
Guelph will try to win consecutive bronze medals and a third
straight CIS medal Sunday, following a 20-17 win over StFX in last
year's third-place duel and the loss to the X-Women in the 2006
final.
Laval hopes to reach the CIS podium for the first time in the
program's fourth year of existence.
SEMI-FINAL 1: Lethbridge 39, Guelph 3
The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Women's Rugby team showed
fine form this morning in defeating the University of Guelph
Gryphons 39-3. As was the case in both of yesterday's round robin
games, a solid defense was at the foundation of the Horns success.
"For us it always starts on defense" said Pronghorns head coach
Neil Langevin, echoing his sentiment from yesterday's games.
Langevin's emphasis on defense paid off enormously, as the Gryphons
were not able to penetrate more than 10 meters into Horns territory
for nearly the entire first half. Each attempt to drive the ball
towards the touch line was met with resistance that was stronger
than the morning wind blowing across the pitch.
The Horns came out to a dominant start in the first half, scoring
the first try of the game when Fort Macleod AB native Brittany Orr
danced through the Gryphon defenders and passed the ball off to
Kendra Gavelin (DeWinton, AB) who then scored her first of three
tries. Rookie winger Kenzie Ralph (Raymond, AB) showed her speed
ten minutes later to add another try to the Horns total. Following
a scrum, Horns captain Ashley Patzer (Lethbridge, AB) tiptoed her
way through the Gryphons defense to bring the Horns total to 15. On
the ensuing kick-off, the Gryphons were able to make the most
forward progress as they had all game, but the Horns defensive
saavy and blazing speed in the form of Shannon Court (Red Deer
County, AB), Orr and Ralph brought the Horns to within meters of
the touch line. The Horns opted to swing the ball to the opposite
side of the field, and Gavelin, taking a pass from Orr, mishandled
the ball just shy of the touch line. Gavelin would make good
moments later on an identical play, adding another 5 to the Horns
score.
Guelph was able to make a surge late in the first half when Jacey
Murphy (Alliston, ON) drove through several Horns defenders. The
defensive force of the Pronghorns was too strong, and the Gryphons
swung the ball wide to fly half Kendra Hail (Simcoe, ON). Hail's
seemingly inevitable try, however, was stymied on a smart touch
line tackle by Kendra Gavelin. Patzer drew from the swing in
momentum, and ran the ball nearly the length of the field untouched
to add a second try to her line, closing out the first half with a
score of 25-0. The wind appeared to play a factor in the first
half, as Patzer was unable to convert on any of the five tries.
The second half saw a fired up Gryphons squad challenge the Horns
defense, and make more frequent forays into Horns territory. In
particular, about 10 minutes into the second half, the Gryphons
took advantage of several Horns miscues to march deep into Horns
territory. The surge, however was short-lived, and the Horns
regrouped, using a solid run by Ashley MacDonald (Mt. Stewart, PEI)
as a pendulum to turn the momentum. Gavelin found the touch line
for the third time in the game at the 55 minute march. Even the
reserves got in on the action. Christie Pierson (Lethbridge, AB)
danced through several Gryphon defenders, passing the ball off to
fourth year Ashley Zaremba (Lethbridge, AB), who found the touch
line. The Horns were unable to close the game with a shutout, as a
made penalty kick in the 63rd minute by Brittany Benn (Napanee, ON)
brought the final score to 39-3 in favour of the Horns.
Player of the game honours went to Ashley Patzer of the Pronghorns
and Jacey Murphy of the Gryphons.
Scoring Summary
Lethbridge
Tries (5 pts): Kendra Gavelin (3), Ashley Patzer (2), Kenzie Ralph,
Ashley Zaremba
Converts (2 pts): Ashley Patzer (2)
Penalty goals (3 pts): none
Drop goals (3 pts): none
Guelph
Tries (5 pts): none
Converts (2 pts): none
Penalty goals (3 pts): Brittany Benn
Drop goals (3 pts): none
SEMI-FINAL 2: StFX 36, Laval 5
The St. Francis Xavier X-Women took control of the game early and
during the first half completely shut down any attempt by Laval's
attackers.
The X-Women's smothering defensive play allowed for many offensive
opportunities. 12 minutes into the first half, CIS player of the
year Ghislane Landry (Toronto, ON) from St. FX broke into the open
field and ran into the end-zone for an uncontested try. It was
converted by Courtnay Malcolm (New Glasgow, NS) to make the score
7-0 early on.
Moments later, a great pass from Landry led Lisa Gauthier (St.
Bernadine, ON) into the endzone for the 2nd X-Women try in 4
minutes. The try was once again successfully converted by Malcolm,
increasing the lead to 14-0. Late in the half, St. FX Kim Armstrong
(Barrie, ON) made a stellar pass fake which threw off a couple of
Laval defenders and left her with a wide open lane into the
end-zone for the try. This made the score at half-time 19-0 in
favor of the X-Women.
Early on in the second half, Gauthier once again benefitted from a
great passing play from Landry and scored her 2nd try of the match
to make the score 24-0. Mid-way through the 2nd stanza, Asya
Bartley (Ottawa, ON) capped off an X-Women march up field by
running through several Laval defenders for a very hard-earned try
to bring the score to 29-0.
The last ten minutes of the half saw no lack in action with both
teams hitting the score sheet. In the 67th minute, the St.FX
attackers passed all along the Laval goal line with no less than 6
players touching the ball before Bartley capping the play by
scoring her 2nd try of the afternoon. The last play of the game saw
Laval's Catherine Carrier (Quebec, QC) break free from the X-Women
defense and run close to two-thirds of the field for the try,
breaking St.FX's bid at a shutout. The final score being 36-5.
St. Francis Xavier head coach Mike Cavanagh said "the girls played
well today. We defensively stuck in for the full 70 minutes. Our
best players were our best players today."
When asked about how he felt about his team going into tomorrow's
championship game against the UofL Horns, he said: "Lethbridge is a
good team and will be difficult to beat. It should be a great
game."
Scoring Summary
StFX
Tries (5 pts): Asya Bartley (2), Lisa Gauthier (2), Kim Armstrong,
Ghislaine Landry
Converts (2 pts): Courtnay Malcolm (3)
Penalty goals (3 pts): none
Drop goals (3 pts): none
Laval
Tries (5 pts): Catherine Carrier
Converts (2 pts): none
Penalty goals (3 pts): none
Drop goals (3 pts): none
ROUND-ROBIN STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL:
MOUNTAIN)
Pool A (final round-robin standings)
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. Lethbridge 2 2 0 0 53 3 10
2. Laval 2 1 1 0 26 38 5
3. Western 2 0 2 0 8 46 0
Pool B (final round-robin standings)
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. StFX 2 1 0 1 17 10 6
2. Guelph 2 1 1 0 20 17 5
3. Alberta 2 0 1 1 10 20 2
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, Oct. 31
Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge 20, Western Ontario 3
Round-Robin Pool B: Guelph 15, Alberta 5
Round-Robin Pool A: Laval 26, Western Ontario 5
Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 5, Alberta 5
Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge 33, Laval 0
Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 12, Guelph 5
Saturday, Nov. 1
Semi-final 1: Lethbridge 39, Guelph 3
Semi-final 2: StFX 36, Laval 5
Sunday, Nov. 2
10:00 5th place: Western Ontario vs. Alberta
12:00 Bronze medal: Laval vs. Guelph
14:00 Championship final: Lethbridge vs. StFX
- CIS -
