GAME 3 POOL B: 2009 CIS women’s rugby championship
Courtesy UBC Sports Information/CIS
VANCOUVER (CIS) – Courtnay Malcolm’s penalty goal late in the second half helped the St. Francis Xavier X-Women to a 10-10 draw versus the Guelph Gryphons and first place in Pool B at the end of round-robin play at the CIS women’s rugby championship.
The AUS champion X-Women and OUA champion Gryphons finish the preliminary round with identical 1-0-1 records but StFX earns the nod thanks to a better goal differential. StFX beat Pool B third-place finisher UBC 18-0 earlier on Friday, while Guelph blanked the tournament host Thunderbirds 5-0.
The X-Women, who have captured 12 consecutive Atlantic conference titles, advance to Saturday’s late semi-final at 1 p.m. Pacific Time where they will face Quebec champion Concordia (1-1). It marks a fourth straight trip to the Final Four for StFX, which lost to Lethbridge in last year’s national final and claimed its lone Monilex trophy title in 2006.
The OUA champion Gryphons have the unpleasant task of trying to stop two-time defending CIS champion Lethbridge in the early semi-final at 11 a.m. Guelph, which has reached the CIS podium four years running but hasn’t hoisted the Monilex trophy since claiming the inaugural CIS banner in 1998, lost 39-3 to Lethbridge in last year’s semi-final round.
Both semi-finals will be webcast live on SSN Canada (www.ssncanada.ca or www.cis-sic.ca).
The game-tying kick by Malcolm, a third-year wing from New Glasgow, N.S., answered Guelph’s go-ahead penalty goal from the boot of Brittany Benn of Napanee, Ont., who accounted for all her team’s points after scoring a self-converted try in the first half.
A well-deserved try by freshman Tyson Beukeboom of Uxbridge, Ont., successfully converted by Malcolm had tied the game at 7-7 early in the second half.
“It was a tough field out there today,” said StFX head coach Mike Cavanagh, referring to the chewed up fields at UBC’s Thunderbird Park. “Neither team took advantage of their chances and it was a good defensive battle. We don’t know much about Concordia but we have a night to watch some film and try and figure out their strengths and weaknesses.”
Concordia and StFX last met in 2007 with the X-Women coming out on top 14-5 in pool play.
“Tomorrow is going to be a stiff test but we played well against StFX. We are going to have to be on our game against Lethbridge tomorrow as they are a very good squad,” said Guelph head coach Colette McAuley.
SCORING SUMMARY
StFX 0-10: 10
GUE 7-3: 10
First half
1. GUE: Brittany Benn (converted try, 7 pts)
Second half
2. StFX: Tyson Beukeboom (try, 5 pts), Courtnay Malcolm (convert, 2 pts)
3. GUE: Brittany Benn (penalty kick, 3 pts)
4. StFX: Courtnay Malcolm (penalty kick, 3 pts)
Players of the game
StFX: Tyson Beukeboom (Uxbridge, Ont.)
GUE: Brittany Benn (Napanee, Ont.)
ROUND-ROBIN STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL: PACIFIC)
For all the information on the championship: www.cis-sic.ca
Pool A
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. Lethbridge 2 2 0 0 66 3 9
2. Concordia 2 1 1 0 10 15 4
3. Western 2 0 2 0 3 61 0
Pool B
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. StFX 2 1 0 1 28 10 6
2. Guelph 2 1 0 1 15 10 6
3. UBC 2 0 2 0 0 23 1
NOTE: a win is worth 4 points and a tie 2 points.
NOTE 2: 1 bonus point is awarded for scoring 4 tries or more in a game, and 1 bonus point is allowed for a loss by 7 points or less.
Friday, Nov. 6
Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge 51, Western Ontario 3
Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 18, UBC 0
Round-Robin Pool A: Concordia 10, Western Ontario 0
Round-Robin Pool B: Guelph 5, UBC 0
Round-Robin Pool A: Lethbridge 15, Concordia 0
Round-Robin Pool B: StFX 10, Guelph 10
Saturday, Nov. 7
11:00 semi-final 1: Lethbridge vs. Guelph (SSN Canada webcast)
13:00 semi-final 2: Concordia vs. StFX (SSN Canada webcast)
Sunday, Nov. 8
10:00 5th place: Western Ontario vs. UBC
12:00 Bronze medal (SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Championship final (SSN Canada webcast)