<%--Womens Rugby Playoffs vs. McMaster Gallery--%>   Guelph, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphon women's rugby team will advance to the OUA Championship finals after a semifinal win against the McMaster Marauders at Varsity Field on Saturday, with a final score of 20-0.
 
The Gryphons will host the OUA Championship Finals next Saturday (Oct. 26) at 1:00 p.m. against the Queen's Gaels. The Gryphons will be looking for their sixth straight OUA title. Last year the team defeated Queens in Kingston 10-6.
 
In Saturday's semifinal win, Shannon Spurrell led the Gryphon offence scoring 15 of the 20 points that Guelph put on the board with a try, a successful conversion and two penalty goals.
 
McMaster and Guelph were evenly matched going into the game. The Gryphons found it difficult to keep possession of the ball, and were unable to use their speed as a much more physical Marauder team kept them at bay.
 
The Gryphons were on the board first after a good drive and a successful penalty kick by Shannon Spurrell early on in the game. McMaster came back strong however, trying to hammer their way into the Guelph try zone. The Gryphons held the Marauders up, and eventually regained possession of the ball, making their way down the field. Daria Keane would be the first Gryphon into the McMaster try zone, using her speed to get past the wall of Marauders. After a successful conversion by Shannon Spurrell, the score was 10-0 for the Gryphons. Spurrell would score another penalty goal at the end of the first half, making it 13-0 going into the second half of play.
 
The cold, rainy weather took a toll on both teams entering the second half, making ball handling hard and injuries more prevalent. The Gryphons took advantage of the dropped balls by McMaster and Spurrell was able to score the second try of the game with the conversion to make it 20-0 early on in the half. McMaster was able to make their way to the edge of the try zone late in the game, but a wall of Guelph players kept them from putting any points on the board, and the final score was 20-0 sending the Gryphons to OUA finals.