The CIS ranked No. 1 X-Women rugby team got off to an impressive start in the defense of their CIS championship title today in Peterborough, Ont. with a 76-3 victory over the host Trent Excalibur in their first round robin game.
“We came out on fire in the first half,” commented StFX head coach Mike Cavanagh. “I thought we controlled the game well, and I am happy with our start to the tournament.”
The X-Women built up an impressive 50-0 lead at half-time. Veteran prop Asya Bartley was the first X-Women on the scoreboard, scoring a try in the opening three minutes of the game. All Canadian fullback Magali Harvey led the X-Women in scoring with 26 points as she had one try, nine conversions and one penalty goal in the game.
After Bartley’s opening try, the X-Women continued to pressure early in the first half and a Trent knock-on led to a StFX possession with a good passing play resulting in an Olivia DeMerchant try. Twenty minutes into the game CIS All Canadian Lisa Gauthier had scored the third try for the X-Women and Harvey connected for all three converts to establish a 21-0 lead midway through the first half.
StFX then followed up with two tries from center Jayme Ward and two more Harvey converts for a 33-0 lead. First half scoring was rounded out with tries from All Canadian Tyson Beukeboom, Sara Kaljuvee, two more converts from Harvey and a penalty goal, also from Harvey late in the first half for the 50-0 half-time lead.
Head coach Mike Cavanagh was able to take advantage of the depth on his team and use several substitutions in the second half.
Magali Harvety increased the StFX lead to 57-0 ten minutes into the second half as she sprinted into the Trent zone to pick up a loose ball and run it in for a try and then converted on her own play.
The Excalibur got on the board with a penalty goal from Kelly Harris that hit the uprights and just went through to count. With StFX leading 57-3, the X-Women would see three more individuals cross the score line as Jessica Jacobs, Amanda Thornborough and Vanessa Duffley all scored for the X-Women. Harvey rounded out the game scoring with two more converts.
Freshman center Sarah Kaljuvee played a strong game for StFX as was rewarded for her efforts as the Player of the Game.
With the win, the X-Women now earn a day off on Friday and will return to championship action on Saturday, November 5th when they take on the Canada West champion Lethbridge Pronghorns at 10:30 am EST in their second round robin game. The winner will advance to Sunday’s gold medal final.
Coach Cavanagh states, “Our next game against Lethbridge is a very important one and we need to be ready for that. We need to correct some mistakes and be ready to play.”
The game will be webcast live via The Streaming Sports Network at www.ssncanada.ca.
The official release and scoring summary from Canadian Interuniversity Sport follows.
Game 1 Pool A: CIS women’s rugby championship
Defending champ StFX dominates opener
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. (CIS) – The St. Francis Xavier University X-Women opened the defence of their national title in spectacular fashion Thursday morning with a dominating 76-3 win over the tournament host Trent Excalibur in the first game of the 2011 CIS women’s rugby championship, at Justin Chiu Stadium.
With the victory, the X-Women take the early lead in pool A and will enjoy a break until Saturday at 10:30 a.m., when they face the Lethbridge Pronghorns in their second and final preliminary round match-up.
Trent will try to rebound against Lethbridge Friday at 10:30 a.m.
The X-Women dominated from start to finish, taking a 50-0 lead into the halftime break. Magali Harvey, a second-year all-Canadian fullback from Quebec City, was the offensive star for the winners as she scored 26 points on a try, a penalty goal and nine converts.
Jayme Ward and two-time AUS MVP Tyson Beukeboom added two tries apiece, while Asya Bartley, Olivia DeMerchant, Lisa Gauthier, Sara Kalijuvee, Amanda Thornborough and Vanessa Duffley each had one.
Bartley, a prop from Ottawa, put StFX on the scoreboard early, just before the third minute mark. It was the first of seven first-half tries for the 14-time AUS champions.
“We came out on fire in the first half,” commented StFX head coach Mike Cavanagh. “I thought we controlled the game well, and I am happy with our start to the tournament."
“Our next game against Lethbridge is a very important one and we need to be ready for that. We need to correct some mistakes and be ready to play.”
Although overmatched, the Excalibur never gave up. Celeigh Harris of Lakefield, Ont., avoided the shutout with a penalty goal at the 49th minute.
Player-of-the-game honours went to Kaljuvee of Ajax, Ont., for the X-Women, and Andrea Luke of Warsaw, Ont., for Trent.
The first-place finishers in groups A and B advance straight to Sunday’s gold-medal final. The second-place teams will battle for CIS bronze, while the last-place finishers play for fifth position.
SCORING SUMMARY
SFX 50-26: 76
TRE 0-3: 3
First half
SFX – Asya Bartley try (Magali Harvey convert) 2nd minute
SFX – Olivia DeMerchant try (Magali Harvey convert) 10th
SFX – Lisa Gauthier try (Magali Harvey convert) 16th
SFX – Jayme Ward try 21st
SFX – Jayme Ward try (Magali Harvey convert) 27th
SFX – Tyson Beukeboom try (Magali Harvey convert) 29th
SFX – Sara Kalijuvee try (Magali Harvey convert) 33rd
SFX – Magali Harvey penalty goal 35th
Second half
SFX – Magali Harvey try (Magali Harvey convert) 43rd
TRE – Celeigh Harris penalty goal 49th
SFX – Tyson Beukeboom try 52nd
SFX – Amanda Thornborough try (Magali Harvey convert) 65th
SFX – Vanessa Duffley try (Magali Harvey convert) 67th
Players of the game
SFX: Sara Kaljuvee
TRE: Andrea Luke
Legend:
Try: 5 points
Penalty goal: 3 points
Convert: 2 points
Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wrugby/index
POOL STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Pool A
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. StFX 1 1 0 0 76 3 5
2. Lethbridge 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3. Trent 1 0 1 0 3 76 0
Pool B
GP W L T PF PA PTS
1. Laval 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2. Guelph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3. McMaster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NOTE 1: 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.
NOTE 3: 1 bonus point is awarded for a loss by 7 points or less.
Thursday, Nov. 3
10:30 Round-Robin Pool A: StFX 76 Trent 3
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Laval vs. McMaster (SSN Canada webcast)
Friday, Nov. 4
10:30 Round-Robin Pool A: Trent vs. Lethbridge (SSN Canada webcast)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Loser Pool B #1 vs. Guelph (SSN Canada webcast)
Saturday, Nov. 5
10:30 Round-Robin Pool A: StFX vs. Lethbridge (SSN Canada webcast)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Winner Pool B #1 vs. Guelph (SSN Canada webcast)
Sunday, Nov. 6
10:00 5th place: Third place Pool A vs. third place Pool B (SSN Canada webcast)
12:00 Bronze medal: Second place Pool A vs. second place Pool B (SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Championship final: First place Pool A vs. first place Pool B (SSN Canada webcast)