X-Women defeat Gryphons, advance to semi-final

The X-Women rugby team earned a 12-5 win over the OUA champion Guelph Gryphons Friday afternoon at the CIS championship in Lethbridge, AB and in doing so secured a berth in Saturday’s semi-final game.

They will meet the Laval Rouge et Or Saturday at 1:00 pm local time (4:00 pm AST) in the second semi-final game.

The X-Women came out playing strongly, wanting to redeem an earlier 5-5 round robin tie to the Alberta Pandas. Kim Armstrong scored her second try of the tournament six minutes into the game and Courtnay Malcolm made good on the convert to establish an early 7-0 lead for StFX.

Malcolm was close to scoring a try of her own shortly after but was pushed out of bounds just before the touch line.

Mimi Rahneva put Guelph on the board scoring a try 15 minutes into the game after the Gryphons moved the ball quickly down the field. The X-Women held a 7-5 lead at half-time.

StFX was able to increase their lead in the game as Asya Bartley held on to push the ball across the line, scoring late in the second half. Malcolm did not score on the conversion attempt, but the 12-5 lead held on for the remainder of the game.

“The girls showed a lot of character in this game and were able to bounce back after our disappointing tie earlier in the day,” commented X-Women head coach Mike Cavanagh. “We played championship defense out there today and I was pleased with the win. Now we need to make sure everyone is healthy and ready for the game tomorrow.”

The X-Women will face the QSSF champion Laval Rouge et Or Saturday afternoon in the second semi-final game at 1:00 pm (4:00pm AST). The Rouge et Or finished second in Pool A after a win over Western and a loss to Lethbridge. The host and Western champion Lethbridge Pronghorns finished first in Pool A with a 2-0 record and will host Guelph in the first semi-final game at 11:00 am (2:00 pm AST).

The semi-final winners will advance to play in Sunday’s championship game slated for 2:00 pm (5:00 pm AST).

For more information, visit the championship website.