GUELPH, ON – Once again, it'll be the Guelph Gryphons versus the Queen's Gaels for all the men's rugby marbles.
And the Gryphons hope that the third time will finally be the charm.
The Gryphons booked their third straight trip to the OUA final after a 31-8 victory over the McMaster Marauders on Saturday evening at Varsity Field.
That followed the Gaels' last-second 28-24 semifinal win over the Western Mustangs earlier in the day, and sets up a third consecutive final clash between Guelph and Queen's.
Queen's won both previous matches, including a 24-23 heartbreaker last year. The Gryphs hope to erase the memory of that bitter loss, and Saturday's semifinal against Mac was an important step toward that goal.
"I wouldn't want it any other way," head coach
Cory Hector said of another crack at the Gaels with a gold medal on the line. "If we're going to win a championship, I hope it's through them."
"I would like another shot at Queen's. We have a good rivalry between our teams," added fifth-year captain
Eric Charest-Pekeski. "It's been a year, we've recovered, and we're moving forward. We're looking to come back with a vengeance."
The Marauders came to Guelph on Saturday looking to avenge a 56-3 defeat handed to them two weeks ago, but they were outmatched again.
Jeremy Wright opened the scoring for the Gryphs with a try in the 21
st minute.
Cody Weese-Burton converted the try, giving the home team a 7-0 lead.
After a penalty goal by Mac's Will Kelly,
Adam Maahs scored a try in the 35
th minute to make the score 12-3. That was all of the scoring for the first half.
Jack Caylor,
Ryan Brethour and
Jordan Hofstra each registered a try in the second half as the Gryphs steadily pulled away from the visitors.
Mario Van Der Westhuizen converted the latter two tries.
Mitchell Salisbury scored a try for Mac in extra time, but it was too little, too late.
"Everything worked out perfectly," said fourth-year prop
Samuel Evans, adding the Gryphs were determined to not look past their opponents.
"Although we beat these guys a couple of weeks ago, we knew we had to come to this game with a clean slate. We've done really well with making sure we keep our composure, and keep everything flat and level. We knew what we could do, we just had to make sure that we actually showed up and did it."
"It was a bit of a slow start," said Charest-Pekeski, "but everybody stayed together as one unit, and it showed in the end with the score."
The championship game against Queen's is set for Sunday, November 13 at 5 p.m. at Varsity Field. The Gryphs have already faced and beaten the Gaels this season, winning 18-12 back in September, and Hector said they will be ready for the final.
"We just have to stick with what we know, work our game plan, and do the things that got us here and gave us our perfect season," he said.
"We've lost to Queen's two years a row in the final, and there's no way in heck we're letting that happen again," Evans vowed. "We're going to take it to them the same way we took it to Mac."
SCORING SUMMARY
GUE: 12-19: 31
MAC: 3-5: 8
1st HALF
21st minute: GUE Try – Jeremy Wright (Cody Burton convert) – 7-0
32nd minute: MAC PG – Will Kelly – 7-3
35th minute: GUE Try – Adam Maahs (no convert) – 12-3
2nd HALF
52nd minute: GUE Try – Jack Caylor (no convert) – 17-3
69th minute: GUE Try – Ryan Brethour (Mario Van Der Westhuizen convert) – 24-3
74th minute: GUE Try – Jordan Hofstra (Mario Van Der Westhuizen convert) – 31-3
80th minute: MAC Try – Mitchell Salisbury (no convert) – 31-8
