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2011 OUA Women's Rugby Championship preview
HAMILTON, Ont. – The McMaster Marauders and Guelph
Gryphons will be battling it out for the 2011 OUA Women’s
Rugby Championship this Saturday, October 29 at 6 p.m. in
Guelph.
Both teams enter the championship undefeated, winning all five of
their league games and handily winning their quarter and semifinal
games. Guelph is looking for its fourth consecutive title while No.
5 McMaster looks to take down the No. 2 ranked team for its first
ever championship. This championship could be an offensive shootout
as the two teams combined for 685 points in the regular season.
The Gryphons will have home field advantage for this year’s
championship. Guelph breezed through their quarterfinal with a 56-7
victory over Western before shutting out Queen’s 50-0 in the
semi-final. The Gryphons have been nationally ranked No. 2 for the
duration of the season and have their sights set not only on an OUA
banner but also a national title, something that has eluded them
since 1998.
Guelph’s offence scored a whopping 453 points this year and
is led by the Shiels Division Most Valuable Player in Jacey Murphy
(Alliston, Ont.) who scored 12 tries in five games. Fellow all-star
Stephanie Tibelius (Ottawa, Ont.) led the league with 98 points.
The Gryphons are extremely good at maintaining ball possession and
creating and capitalizing on their opportunities. The defence is
also strong, having given up only eight points in the regular
season.
McMaster boasts a host of all-stars of their own after their
perfect season. Russell Division Rookie of the Year, Cindy Nelles
(Belleville, Ont.), will need to continue her strong play in order
for the Marauders to be successful against Guelph. The flanker is
dangerous in a variety of ways, registering nine tries and 20
converts to finish second in OUA scoring with 88 total points.
Other keys to the Marauders attack are all-stars Natasha Turner
(Rockcliffe, Ont.) and Varsha Tripathi (Kincardine, Ont.). Turner
was second on team scoring with seven tries while Tripathi is
instrumental in retaining ball possession and directing the
offence. These all-stars helped McMaster score over 230 points,
second only to Guelph in the conference.
The Marauders are finding their defensive stride at the right time,
having shutout their opponents throughout the playoffs thus far.
These have been the only two shutouts recorded all season for
McMaster.
The OUA bronze medal match will see the Brock Badgers travel to
Kingston for a matchup with the Queen’s Gaels on Saturday.
The Gaels are coming off a 4-1 regular season and are currently
ranked No. 8 in the nation. Queen’s defeated Trent 14-10 in
overtime in the quarterfinals before being shutout by Guelph in the
semi-finals. After claiming the silver medal last year, the Gaels
look to their experience and the play of three-time all-stars Susan
Heald (Burlington, Ont.) and Andrea Wadsworth (Toronto, Ont.) to
lead them to the bronze this year.
The Badgers had a 2-3 regular season record but knocked off the 3-2
Waterloo Warriors in the quarterfinals before falling to the
Marauders in the semifinal. Brock is led by two-time all-star
eightman Misha Maric (Toronto, Ont.) who scored 31 of the
Badgers’ 76 points this season.
Queen’s and Brock met in an early season matchup back on
September 17 and produced a closely contested affair. The Gaels
prevailed with a 15-14 victory, but suggests this bronze medal is
far from decided.
The bronze medal game begins at 1 p.m. in Kingston while the OUA
Championship game presented by Gilbert Canada starts at 6 p.m. in
Guelph. Stay tuned to oua.ca for championship recaps on Monday.
CHAMPIONSHIP
SCHEDULE
Saturday, October 29
1:00 pm – Brock @ Queen’s – OUA
Bronze Medal
6:00 pm – McMaster @ Guelph – OUA Final
