HUMBER CLAIMS SECOND CONSECUTIVE OCAA WOMEN'S RUGBY CROWN
ETOBICOKE, Ont. - On the final day of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) women's rugby season the Humber Hawks squared off against the Conestoga Condors, with the 2011 OCAA title at stake.
ETOBICOKE, Ont. - On the final day of the Ontario Colleges
Athletic Association (OCAA) women's rugby season the Humber Hawks
squared off against the Conestoga Condors, with the 2011 OCAA title
at stake.
Humber had won the first two matchups this season, but in the
second game they were pushed to the limit by Conestoga. In this
year's women's final the two engaged in another epic battle, with
Humber taking their second consecutive provincial crown by a tight
score of 24-19.
In the first half both teams were ferocious as bodies were flying
every which way. Humber controlled much of the play in the first
half and finally broke through and scored the games first try.
Laura Mueller capped off a long possession as she
plunged over the goal line and scored.
Off the next kick Humber was right back on the attack as they
pounced on the ball and ran it downfield. Off a quick reverse play
Maire Balzan barrelled over the Condors defence
and scored another.
OCAA West scoring champion Brooklyn Craig would
add another try to make the score at half 17-0 for the Hawks.
At the half Conestoga coach Josh Kirk had some
words for his team and that woke up them up in a big way. They
controlled the pace of the second half breaking runs and giving the
Hawks defence fits.
Humber's Kelsey Bardy did manage to slow down the
momentum by adding a sneaky little try to put the Hawks up
24-0.
This however seemed to give Conestoga more momentum as they reeled
off two quick tries in less than seven minutes. Valerie
Shantz and Rebecca Bannon scored on
identical plays where they simply wore down the Hawks goal-line
defence.
Twelve minutes later Caitlin Martin broke one her
many big runs on the day and scored again.
Humber's 24-0 lead was now whittled down to a narrow 24-19
advantage. The Hawks tried to add some insurance but Conestoga was
just too strong. The Condors stopped the Hawks inside five yards
three separate times.
With less than 20 seconds left Conestoga's speedster Martin broke
free down the left sidelines and looked like she was going to put
the game away for Conestoga. Out of nowhere came Humber's
Stephanie Draper with a game-saving tackle.
Shortly after the tackle the final whistle blew and the Hawks had
won a second title. The final score flashed on the scoreboard,
reading Humber 24 and Conestoga 19.
For their efforts Diane Bushell (Conestoga) and
Draper (Humber) were each named player of the match for their
respective teams.
The final game of the season was the best game of the year. A game
filled with hard hits, crisp passing and lots of drama gave the
three hundred plus fans on hand all the excitement they could
handle.
After three tough matches this season Humber and Conestoga may
have sparked the first major rivalry in OCAA women's rugby.
Source: Humber College
- OCAA -
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