WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The playoff picture hasn't become much clearer despite the rugby Axewomen picking up an important 32-26 win over the visiting STFX X-Women on a rare Wednesday night game.
Tonight's game was a rescheduled game from Saturday, Sept. 24 – postponed due to Hurricane Fiona.
The Axewomen jumped out of the gates quickly with a converted Sara Grant (Melrose, Alta.) try three minutes into the opening half.
Grant bulldozed in for the try – her fifth of the season.
The Axewomen struck again at the 8-minute mark when Juliette Matsukubo (Ottawa, Ont.) sprinted 80 yards for Acadia's second try and Matsukubo's eighth try of the season.
Trailing 12-0 after eight minutes, the X-Women would not be shut-out. Madelyn Weisshaar (Wilcox, Sask.) turned a 40-yard sprint into five points and Maddy Ross (Coldbrook, N.S.) converted the try to cut the Axewomen lead to 12-7 after only 11 minutes of play.
Five minutes later, Axewoman Sarah Palfy (Sexsmith, Alta.) dropped the shoulder and steamrolled in for Acadia's third try of the first half.
Senior prop Maddie Harroun (Halifax, N.S.) narrowed the 17-7 Acadia lead in the 19th minute to close the gap to 17-12.
Grace Pinch scored her first of two tries, two minutes after Harroun. Pinch's try would be the last point scored by either team in the first half.
Down 22-12, STFX's Lauren Stienburg (Cole Harbour, N.S.) led a maul that was converted by Maddie Ross to close the lead to 22-19.
Grace Pinch, who was named the AUS Subway Player of the Game, scored her second try of the night and fourth of the season. Senior 8-man Danielle Wisen added the eventual game-winner in the 68th minute.
Emma MacDougall's (Halifax, N.S.) second try of the season, converted by Jill Griffith (Upper Tantallon, N.S.) in the 73rd minute ended the high-scoring match with a 32-26 Acadia win.
"We were really resilient. We played defense on the line for a while and it's just what we've been practicing – defense on the line and it worked," noted Pinch after the game.
The win against the X-Women keeps Acadia in the run for first place. UPEI's win against Saint Mary's this evening tightens the race for the playoff first-place bye and hosting rights of the championship game.
The Axewomen improve to 4-1, with one loss to UPEI, while the STFX X-Women drop to 3-2 with losses to UPEI and Acadia. Both Acadia and STFX meet again for the season finale in Antigonish on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
-30-
Recap courtesy Acadia Communications
Scoring Summary:
First Half
3 min ACA Sara Grant Try / Sara Grant Conversion
8 min ACA Juliette Matsukubo Try
11 min SFX Madelyn Weisshaar Try / Maddie Ross Conversion
16 min ACA Sarah Palfy Try
19 min SFX Maddie Harroun Try
21 min ACA Grace Pinch Try
Second Half
51 min SFX Lauren Stienburg Try / Maddie Ross Conversion
57 min ACA Grace Pinch
68 min ACA Danielle Wisen Try
73 min SFX Emma MacDougall Try / Jill Griffith Conversion