Pronghorns edge 2014 champ StFX, will play for fifth Sunday
The Lethbridge Pronghorns defeated the 2014 champion StFX X-Women 20-12 in the first consolation match of the CIS women’s rugby championship Saturday afternoon at Queen’s University’s Nixon Field.
CONSOLATION #1: CIS women's rugby championship
With the win, the Canada West finalist Pronghorns (1-1) advance to Sunday's fifth-place game at 11 a.m., where they will meet the winner of the second consolation matchup between the Acadia Axewomen and Victoria Vikes.
For their part, the AUS runners-up X-Women see their season come to an end after going 0-2 in Kingston.
"It was a game we had to win," said a content Lethbridge head coach Ric Suggitt, in his first season at the helm. "The girls came out today and demonstrated that they're an intelligent group and they demonstrated that they were courageous to stop StFX close to the goal line. Defensively it was the best performance we had all year."
A disappointed Mike Cavanagh, StFX head coach, knows his team needs to be better next year. "Full credit to Lethbridge, they threw the ball around and they took all their chances. I think we left points on the field so at times we were our own worst enemies and took a lot of penalties, we have to improve on that."
The Pronghorns didn't waste any time getting off to a quick start from the opening kick. They drove down to the X-Women end less than a minute into play to knock a drop goal off the inner post and through by Sarah Gordon (Surrey, B.C.) getting them up with the early 3-0 lead.
At the mid-way point of the first half the Pronghorns were able to stave off the StFX attack after the X-Women held possession just outside the Pronghorn try zone for nearly 10 straight minutes.
The Pronghorns held off StFX for as long as they could before Lauren Agnew (Stittsville, Ont.) caught a crisp pass and finally broke through the Lethbridge defence to put down the first try of the match, 27 minutes deep into the first half.
Lethbridge answered immediately, pushing back into the StFX end as Fisayo Latilo (Calgary) dove across the try line to regain the Pronghorns their three point lead three minutes after the X-Women try.
The Pronghorn momentum didn't slow with CIS All-Canadian Nicole Ronsky (Calgary) grabbing a pass off a scrum to straight arm her way into a foot race with Agnew, who couldn't catch the Pronghorn as she touched down the try. Heading into the second half Lethbridge led the X-Women 15-7.
After some early Lethbridge pressure the X-Women returned to the Pronghorn end, fighting along the edge of the try line as they had in the first. The Pronghorns kept their defence tight and forced the X-Women back on their heels.
Melissa Bass (Okotoks, Alta.) broke a handful of tackles and slipped away from the pack deep into the StFX end but was denied the try as she met up with their defensive line and was forced to toss it away. Lethbridge got another chance minutes later as Latilo grabbed a steal off a tackle, getting it out on the left side to Gordon who ran down the first try of the second half, stretching the Lethbridge lead to 20-7.
The X-Women had a quick answer as they drove deep into the Pronghorn end to push across a maul try headed by Cyra Humber (Toronto) 22 minutes into the second half. The X-Women tried to find the momentum to catch the Pronghorns but Lethbridge locked them out of their try zone for the final minutes to take the match 20-12.
Bass was honoured as player of the game for Lethbridge. Humber received the same honour for StFX.
Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wrugby/index
SCORING SUMMARY
LTH 15-5: 20A
StFX 7-5: 12
First half
LTH - Sarah Gordon drop goal 1st minute (LTH 3 - StFX 0)
StFX - Lauren Agnew try (Sabrina McDaid convert) 27th (LTH 3 - StFX 7)
LTH - Fisayo Latilo try (Sarah Gordon convert) 30th (LTH 10 - StFX 7)
LTH - Nicole Ronsky try 33rd (LTH 15 - StFX 7)
Second half
LTH - Sarah Gordon try 19th (LTH 20 - StFX 7)
StFX - Cyra Humber try 22nd (LTH 20 - StFX 12)
Players of the game
LTH: Melissa Bass (Okotoks, Alta.)
StFX: Cyra Humber (Toronto)
Legend:
Try: 5 points
Penalty goal: 3 points
Convert: 2 points
PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING
1. Acadia (AUS champions: 5-1 regular season / 2-0 conference playoffs)
2. McMaster (OUA champions: 4-1 regular season / 3-0 conference playoffs)
3. Ottawa (RSEQ champions: 7-0 regular season / 2-0 conference playoffs)
4. Victoria (Canada West champions: 2-2 regular season / 2-0 conference playoffs)
5. Concordia (RSEQ finalists: 6-1 regular season / 1-1 conference playoffs)
6. StFX (AUS finalists: 5-1 regular season / 0-1 conference playoffs)
7. Lethbridge (Canada West finalists: 0-3-1 regular season / 1-1 conference playoffs)
8. Queen's (Hosts: 4-1 regular season / 1-2 conference playoffs)
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Thursday, Nov. 5
13:00 Quarter-final 1: Ottawa 29, StFX 7
15:00 Quarter-final 2: McMaster 62, Lethbridge 14
17:00 Quarter-final 3: Concordia 34, Victoria 12
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Queen's 24, Acadia 17
Friday, Nov. 6
Rest day
Saturday, Nov. 7
11:00 Consolation 1: Lethbridge 20, StFX 12
13:00 Consolation 2: Victoria vs. Acadia (CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Semifinal 1: Ottawa vs. McMaster (CIS-SIC.tv)
17:00 Semifinal 2: Concordia vs. Queen's (CIS-SIC.tv)
Sunday, Nov. 8
11:00 Fifth place: Lethbridge vs. TBD (CIS-SIC.tv)
13:00 Bronze medal (CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Championship final (CIS-SIC.tv)