HALIFAX, NS—In what can only be described as less than desirable playing conditions, the U SPORTS No. 2-ranked StFX X-Women defeated the host SMU Huskies 86-0 on Wednesday evening in Atlantic University Sport women's rugby action from Huskies Stadium.
StFX opened the scoring early in the first half with a try from Anna Horner (Stouffville, ON) and a lucky bounce on their convert kick for a 7-0 lead.
Sam Lake (Windsor, NS) continued the scoring, adding her first try of the night and Danielle Franada (Grand Prairie, AB) added the convert kick for a 14-0 lead. Sarah McCarron (Antigonish, N.S.) scored the next try with Franada adding another conversion.
Ajax, Ont. native Joanna Alphonso threw her name on the score sheet with 12 minutes left in the half with a try (unconverted) as the X-Women led 26-0.
Olivia DeMerchant's (Bedell, NB) long run—good for a try—saw StFX pad their lead to 33-0 with ten minutes left in the first half. Alphonso, Sarah Hoerig (Whitby,ON) and Lake rounded out the first half scoring as the X-Women took a 52-0 lead into the locker room at half.
StFX went on to outscore the Huskies 34-0 as head coach Mike Cavanagh sent some substitutes into the game. Kenadi Verge (Halifax, NS) was first to score four minutes into the second half, then fellow Halifax native Maddie Harroun touched down for a pair of tries.
Sophie Parker, Jacqui Salvatore and Sammy Nadeau scored single tries for the X-Women and Salvatore kicked two conversions to round out the scoring.
Franada, who finished with six conversions on the night, was named Subway Player of the Game.
With the win, the X-Women improve to 5-0 atop the AUS conference, while the Huskies fall to 0-5.
StFX will continue on their road trip for their annual exhibition excursion to Ontario. They will face the U SPORTS No. 1 ranked Ottawa Gee Gee's on Friday night, followed by a Saturday afternoon doubleheader against the No. 5 Queen's Gaels.
The X-Women then return to AUS action next weekend, hitting the road to Wolfville, NS for their final regular season home game against Acadia on Sunday, October 13th. Saint Mary's will close out the season with a game at UPEI, also on Sunday.
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Courtesy Dominic Nolasco, SMU Communications