GUELPH, Ont. – The quest for a third straight OUA title is officially underway. And the Guelph Gryphons have passed their first test of the 2018 season.
 
Saturday afternoon at Nixon Field in Kingston, the No. 7-ranked Gryphons women's rugby team won 39-34 over the No. 4-ranked Queen's Gaels in what was a rematch of the 2018 OUA final.
 
Six different Gryphon players recorded tries as Guelph scored 24 straight points to close out a dominating first half to take a 29-5 lead into halftime. A furious second half comeback from Queen's would fall short as the two-time defending OUA champion Gryphons would come out on top of an electric season-opening match in Kingston.
 
The Gryphons dominated up front, overpowering Queen's physically thanks to tremendous play from forwards Brodie Schmidt, April Wright, Kylie Shaughnessy, Emilie Nicholl and Erika Barton. Of the seven tries scored on the day for Guelph, six were driven in by forwards. Schmidt was the lone Gryphon to record multiple tries, while Wright, Barton, Amara Hill, Rebecka Sundell and Emily Frasson each recorded one try on the day.


Gryphon Take
"In the first half, we dominated the point of contact and controlled the ball. Those were our two goals coming into the game, making sure we were physical, while also making sure we controlled the ball when it was in our hands. I thought we did that very well. In the second half, we got a little complacent in our defensive organization, but all in all, we're happy with how we played. It was a long training camp so it was good to hit some opposition today instead of ourselves. Our girls know what we need to work on we will start that on Monday." – head coach Colette McAuley

 
The Record
Guelph is 1-0

 
Next up
@ Western, Friday, Sept. 14, 7 pm