ANTIGONISH, NS - The STFX X-Women rugby squad kicked off their 2023 regular season with a dominant 81-0 win over the Saint Mary's Huskies on Saturday afternoon.

X-Women head coach Mike Cavanagh noted, "It was a good way to start off the season. We had a slow start to the game on offense with some self-inflicted mistakes, but as the game went on we starting passing and catching the ball well."

"I thought defensively we played well the whole game, we had them going backwards and didn't give them any opportunities to run their offense."

Katie Douglas (Charlottetown, PE), Akwaima Akpan (Halifax, NS), and Camryn Kleynhans (Wellington, ON) all had two tries for the home team, who had built up a 36-0 lead at halftime.

Emma MacDougall (Halifax, NS), Skye Koyote (Duncan, BC), Courtney Gottselig (Vergeville, AB), Katherine Culligan (Halifax, NS), Jillian Griffith (Upper Tantallon, NS), Brooklyn Peyton (Waverley, NS), and Olivia Villamere (Haliburton, ON) all scored single tries for STFX.

Katie Murphy (Millville, PE) kicked five conversions, with Payton hitting two more, and Emily Dodge (Fall River, NS) adding another. 

Despite the score, both teams came out to play in what was a warm and muggy afternoon.

Douglas earned player of the game honours for the blue and white while Elliana Porter (Bridgewater, NS) was player of the game for Saint Mary's.

Prior to the match, the X-Women recognized head coach Mike Cavanagh, who is in his 25^th season as head coach of the decorated squad. Cavanagh has coached the team to six national titles and 21 AUS titles during his tenure.

The Huskies are on the road next weekend when they visit the reigning AUS champion UPEI Panthers in Charlottetown on September 16. The X-Women are also on the road next weekend, when they will continue their rivalry with the Acadia Axewomen in Wolfville on the 16^th. Both games begin at 2 p.m.

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Recap Courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics

SCORING SUMMARY

SMU 0-0: 0
STFX 36-45: 81 

First half
STFX – Emma MacDougall try (Katie Murphy convert), 9^th minute
STFX – Katherine Culligan try, 18^th minute
STFX – Cameryn Kleynhans try, 25^th minute
STFX – Courtney Gottselig try, (Katie Murphy convert), 33^rd minute
STFX – Akwaima Akpan try, 36^th minute
STFX – Skye Koyote try (Katie Murphy convert), 40^th minute 

Second half
STFX – Camryn Kleynhans, 42^nd minute
STFX – Katie Douglas (Katie Murphy convert), 48^th minute
STFX – Akwaima Akpan try (Katie Murphy convert), 51^st minute
STFX – Katie Douglas try (Emily Dodge convert), 59^th minute
STFX – Olivia Villamere try, 74^th minute
STFX – Brooklyn Payton try (Brooklyn Payton convert), 79^th minute
STFX – Jillian Griffith try (Brooklyn Payton convert), 80^th minute 

Players of the Game:
SMU:  Elliana Porter (Bridgewater, NS)
STFX:  Katie Douglas (Charlottetown, PE)

Legend:
Try: 5 points
Penalty goal: 3 points
Convert: 2 points