GUELPH - The 2017 OUA women's rugby season is officially underway. And the defending champion Gryphons are off and running. Saturday afternoon at Varsity Field on the campus of the University of Guelph, the Gryphons defeated the Queen's Gaels 38-31 in a thrilling season opener between two of the OUA's top teams. With the score tied at 31-31 in the 80th minute, the Gryphons broke through with third year centre
Alexandra Everett powering her way through from a few yards out to score the match-winning try.
"That was an excellent rugby match today, on both sides," said Gryphons head coach
Colette McAuley.
"I thought our veterans performed really well. And our first and second year kids stepped up their level of play as well. We've lost some size from years past, but we played with speed and attacked really well," added McAuley.
"We'll need to shore up some things defensively, but it was definitely an encouraging start to the season."
Scoring Summary
| Minute |
University |
Type of Score |
Player |
Convert |
Match Score |
| 3' |
Guelph |
Try |
Andi Lakatos |
Missed |
5-0 Guelph |
| 18' |
Queen's |
Try |
Nadia Popov |
Missed |
5-5 |
| 21' |
Guelph |
Try |
Julia Schell |
Good (Julia Schell) |
12-5 Guelph |
| 24' |
Queen's |
Try |
Sophie de Goede |
Good (Sophie |
12-12 |
| 30' |
Queen's |
Try |
Sophie de Goede |
Missed |
17-12 Queen's |
| 38 |
Guelph |
Try |
Amara Hill |
Good (Julia Schell) |
19-17 Guelph |
| 40' |
Guelph |
Try |
Alexandra Everett |
Missed |
24-17 Guelph |
| 47 |
Guelph |
Try |
Jasmine Ing |
Good (Julia Schell) |
31-17 Guelph |
| 53 |
Queen's |
Try |
McKinley Hunt |
|
31-24 Guelph |
| 67 |
Queen's |
Try |
Nadia Popov |
|
31-31 |
| 80 |
Guelph |
Try |
Alexandra Everett |
Good (Julia Schell) |
38-31 Guelph |
The Gryphons, who defeated McMaster in Hamilton last season to capture the OUA title, had five different players score tries on the day, including two in the second half from Alexandra Everett (Brockville, ON). Gryphons third year fly half
Julia Schell, last year's OUA Shiels Division MVP, finished the day with a team-high 13 points (1 try, 4 converts).
With Guelph leading 31-17 in the 2nd half, the Gaels battled back to tie the match at 31-31. In the dying moments, the Gryphons had possession deep in Queen's territory. Despite the fact that the Gryphons were in chip-shot range for a penalty kick to take the lead, the players had their mindsets on pushing through for the winning try.
The determination would pay off when, after a penalty, the Gryphons would execute a quick tap and plough through for the winning try.
For McAuley, there were several standout performances on the day, "
Kylie (Shaughnessy) was exceptional for us today on defence with a number of big tackles and poaches.
"Zana (Alexandra Everett) got us into good attacking positions with some width, and
Emilie (Nicholl) and
Amara (Hill) had a tremendous work rate around the pitch all day."
The Gryphons (1-0) will be in action again on Friday night (Sept. 8) under the lights when they travel to Toronto for a match with the York Lions. Game time is set for 7pm.
