X-Women to face Alberta, Guelph

2008 CIS women’s rugby championship
Pronghorns looking to repeat on home turf

OTTAWA (CIS) – The Lethbridge Pronghorns hope to defend their first CIS women’s rugby title on home turf this weekend but it will be no easy task as four past national champions and a rising powerhouse from Quebec will make the trip to Southern Alberta to compete for the Monilex Trophy.

Championship web site: www.universitysport.ca/e/championships/w_rugby/2008 

The 2008 CIS championship gets under way Friday with six round-robin duels and concludes Sunday at 2 p.m. Mountain with the presentation of the gold-medal final. The semi-finals are slated for Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The Pronghorns, who go into the tournament as three-time reigning Canada West champions, were surprise winners of the Monilex Trophy a year ago in London, Ont., when they upset the host Western Ontario Mustangs 15-10 in the final despite playing the entire competition without senior national team member and former CIS player of the year, Ashley Patzer.

The 2008 ‘Horns not only return 18 members of last year’s championship team, they also welcome Patzer back. The 21-year-old fly half was in the Bahamas this past weekend where she helped Canada qualify for the 2009 World Cup of Sevens in Dubai, in March.

Still, ninth-year head coach Neil Langevin knows many obstacles stand between his squad and a second straight CIS crown.

“Our girls have grown throughout the season and know that playing at home will be both an exciting opportunity and a factor that they will have to deal with. We may have taken some teams by surprise with our win last year but there will be no hiding in Lethbridge.”

“It will be an exciting tournament. With Guelph, Laval and StFX being undefeated conference champions and traditional powerhouses, Western and Alberta, joining us as defending national champions, there will be no easy games. The winner on Sunday will be a deserving champion.”

The ‘Horns title defence start Friday with Pool A duels against the Quebec conference champion Laval Rouge et Or and the OUA finalist Western Ontario Mustangs.

In only its fourth year of CIS competition, the young Laval program is already among the nation’s elite. The Rouge et Or qualified for their first CIS tournament in 2006, when they suffered three straight losses. After missing the Nationals a year ago, they regrouped this fall and put together a spectacular campaign dominating their opponents 344-53 in QSSF regular season and post-season play.

Led by national team coach Natascha Wesch and national team member Kelly Russell, Western Ontario has been the most dominating team in CIS rugby in recent years, claiming five national medals over the past six seasons, including back-to-back Monilex Trophies in 2004 and 2005.

The Mustangs were 7-0 overall this fall before suffering a 14-0 loss to Guelph in the OUA final. Both Wesch and Russell missed the title game as they were in the Bahamas for the World Sevens qualifier.

The competition should be as intense in Pool B.

The OUA champion Guelph Gryphons, winners of the inaugural Monilex Trophy back in 1998, are 8-0 in OUA competition this season outscoring their rivals by a 335-15 margin. Guelph has medaled at each of the last three CIS championships claiming bronze in 2007 and 2005 and silver in 2006.

Simply put, the St. Francis Xavier X-Women and 2007 CIS player of the year Ghislaine Landry enjoyed one of the most dominating campaigns in CIS rugby history. The 2006 national champions, the only team to qualify for every CIS tournament thanks to 11 AUS titles in as many years, outscored their conference opponents 468-0 this fall, including a 52-0 win over Saint Mary’s in the league final.

And returning to the Nationals after a two-year absence are the once unbeatable Alberta Pandas, winners of five straight Monilex Trophies from 1999 to 2003 before settling for CIS bronze in 2004 and silver in 2005. The Pandas defeated Lethbridge 9-5 in the Canada West qualification tournament on Sept. 28 but dropped the rematch, 20-9, in the conference final on Oct. 19.  

TEAM PROFILES

Lethbridge Pronghorns
Head Coach: Neil Langevin (9th season)
2008 regular season record: 2-1
2008 regular season standing: 2nd Canada West
2008 playoff record: 2-0
2008 playoff finish: Canada West champions
Conference award winners: Brandi Van Eeuwen (Rookie)
Conference all-stars: Brandi Van Eeuwen, Ashley MacDonald, Amanda Richardson, Jena Murray
CIS championship appearances (inaugural champ. in 1998): 4th 
CIS championship last appearance: 2007 (champions)
CIS championship sequence: 3rd straight appearance, 4th in 6 years
CIS championship best result: 1-time champions (2007)

Laval Rouge et Or
Head Coach: Bill McNeil (4th season)
2008 regular season record: 6-0
2008 regular season standing: 1st QSSF
2008 playoff record: 2-0
2008 playoff finish: QSSF champions
Conference award winners: Charlotte Vallières-Villeneuve (MVP), Claudiane Renaud (Rookie)
Conference all-stars: Élie Papineau, Karen Paquin, Claudiane Renaud, Frédérique Saucier, Charlotte Vallières-Villeneuve
CIS championship appearances (inaugural champ. in 1998): 2nd (joined QSSF in 2005)
CIS championship last appearance: 2006 (6th)
CIS championship sequence: 2nd appearance in 3 years (2nd in history)
CIS championship best result: 6th (2006)

Western Ontario Mustangs
Head Coach: Natascha Wesch (15th season)
2008 regular season record: 5-0
2008 regular season standing: 1st OUA Sheils Division
2008 playoff record: 2-1
2008 playoff finish: OUA finalists
Sheils Division award winners: Kelly Russell (MVP)
Sheils Division all-stars: Melissa Baer, Kelly Russell, Laura Russell, Nicole Bailey, Jasmine Isaac
CIS championship appearances (inaugural champ. in 1998): 7th  
CIS championship last appearance: 2007 (silver medal)
CIS championship sequence: 7th straight appearance
CIS championship best result: 2-time champions (2005, 2004)

Guelph Gryphons
Head Coach: Colette McAuley (2nd season)
2008 regular season record: 5-0
2008 regular season standing: 1st OUA Russell Division
2008 playoff record: 3-0
2008 playoff finish: OUA champions
Russell Division award winners: Michelle Joslin (MVP), Brittany Benn (Rookie), Colette McAuley (Coach)
Russell Division all-stars: Aleksandra Lauks, Michelle Joslin, Jenna Livingston; Brittany Sammut, Brittany Benn
CIS championship appearances (inaugural champ. in 1998): 8th 
CIS championship last appearance: 2007 (bronze medal)
CIS championship sequence: 4th straight appearance
CIS championship best result: 1-time champions (1999)

St. Francis Xavier X-Women
Head Coach: Mike Cavanagh (10th season)
2008 regular season record: 6-0
2008 regular season standing: 1st AUS
2008 playoff record: 1-0
2008 playoff finish: AUS champions
Conference award winners: Ghislaine Landry (MVP), Lisa Gauthier (Rookie), Mike Cavanagh (Coach)
Conference all-stars: Kim Armstrong, Tamara Boiteau, Tanya Boiteau, Julie Emmerson, Lisa Gauthier, Jamee George, Mary Giles, Ghislaine Landry, Courtnay Malcolm, Megan Pritchard
CIS championship appearances (inaugural champ. in 1998): 11th 
CIS championship last appearance: 2007 (4th)
CIS championship sequence: 11th appearance in 11 years
CIS championship best result: 1-time champions (2006)

Alberta Pandas
Head Coach: Matt Parrish (5th season)
2008 regular season record: 3-0
2008 regular season standing: 1st Canada West
2008 playoff record: 1-1
2008 playoff finish: Canada West finalists
Conference award winners: Chelsea Stone (MVP), Matt Parrish (Coach)
Conference all-stars: Chelsea Stone, Karlee Carbert, Jill Morgan, Annika Eriksson, Brett Sarchuk, Nikki Tyminski
CIS championship appearances (inaugural champ. in 1998): 8th  
CIS championship last appearance: 2005 (silver medal)
CIS championship sequence: 1st appearance since 2005, 8th in 11 years
CIS championship best result: 5-time champions (1999 to 2003)

CIS WOMEN’S RUGBY CHAMPIONS (Monilex Trophy)
2007 Lethbridge
2006 StFX
2005 Western Ontario
2004 Western Ontario
2003 Alberta
2002 Alberta
2001 Alberta
2000 Alberta
1999 Alberta
1998 Guelph

CHAMPIONSHIP POOLS & SCHEDULE (all times LOCAL)
Pool A
A. Lethbridge Pronghorns (Canada West champions / 2-1 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)
B. Laval Rouge et Or (QSSF champions / 6-0 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)
C. Western Ontario Mustangs (OUA finalists / 5-0 regular season, 2-1 playoffs)

Pool B
D. Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions / 5-0 regular season, 3-0 playoffs)
E. St. Francis Xavier X-Women (AUS champions / 6-0 regular season, 1-0 playoffs)
F. Alberta Pandas (Canada West finalists / 3-0 regular season, 1-1 playoffs)

Friday, Oct. 31
10:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge vs. Western Ontario
10:00 Round-Robin Pool B: Guelph vs. Alberta
12:30 Round-Robin Pool A: Laval vs. Western Ontario
12:30 Round-Robin Pool B: StFX vs. Alberta
15:00 Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge vs. Laval
15:00 Round-Robin Pool B: Guelph vs. StFX

Saturday, Nov. 1
11:00 semi-final 1: first place Pool A vs. second place Pool B
13:00 semi-final 2: second place Pool A vs. first place Pool B

Sunday, Nov. 2
10:00 5th place: third place Pool A vs. third place Pool B
12:00 Bronze medal
14:00 Championship final

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