X-Women win battle of AUS rugby heavyweights
The U SPORTS No. 3 ranked StFX X-Women remain undefeated and improve to 4-0 with a convincing 38-14 win over the No. 5 ranked Acadia Axewomen in a battle of AUS rugby heavyweights Friday night at Raymond Field.
WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The U SPORTS No. 3 ranked StFX X-Women remain undefeated and improve to 4-0 with a convincing 38-14 win over the No. 5 ranked Acadia Axewomen in a battle of AUS rugby heavyweights Friday night at Raymond Field.
The X-Women scored 33 unanswered points in the second half to overcome a 14-5 halftime deficit for the win.
This first meeting between these two teams in the regular season was billed as the 'clash of the titans' and for the opening half, fans were not disappointed.
StFX struck first fifteen minutes into the match when Alex Hamilton punched in the first of six StFX tries.
The Axewomen responded nine minutes later when Annie Kennedy scored Acadia's first try and converted it to give the Axewomen a 7-5 lead.
Acadia went on the attack again when Harley Tucker scored only four minutes later for their second try to be converted by Kennedy again. The Axewomen led 14-5 at halftime.
StFX's Anna Horner closed the Axewomen lead to 14-12 in the opening four minutes of the second half, then the defending national chmapion X-Women went on to score five unanswered tries in the second half to grab the eventual 38-14 win.
Horner's try was converted by Danielle Franada who would convert all X tries except the last one scored by herself.
Hannah Ellis scored a try at the 49-minute mark to give StFX a 19-14 lead that they would not give up for the remainder of the game.
Sammy Nadeau pushed the lead to 26-14 on her try at the 54-minute mark. Veteran fifth year prop Sam Lake added another try shortly after Nadeau's – both converted by Franada.
At the 78 minute mark, Franada scored the final X-Women try of the game, for the 38-14 win and sole possession of first place in the AUS standings with a 4-0 record.
Anna Horner was named the Subway Player of the Game, while Acadia's Monique Coffey was honoured as Acadia's Player of the Game.
The Axewomen drop to 3-1 and travel to Antigonish next Saturday for the rematch against the X-Women beginning at 3:00 p.m.
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Courtesy Acadia Sports Information