ALGONQUIN 37, ST. LAWRENCE (K) 5

OTTAWA - The St. Lawrence women's and men's rugby teams faced a tough opponent to open the 2013-14 season, the Algonquin College Thunder.

Last season, Algonquin women's team won the provincial championship, and the men's team finished third in the OCAA East Division.

Entering the game with a young and smaller squad, the Vikings women's team knew they were in for a battle. The Thunder took full advantage of the size difference and inexperience of the Vikings squad to go on defeating SLC 45-0.

"Despite the score, I'm proud of the girl's effort on Sunday," said Vikings head coach Gary Peacock. "The girls did not quit and played hard right until the very end."

"We entered the game with a short roster, and suffered a few more injuries causing us to finish with only 13 players on the field by the end of the game."

The men's rugby team struggled to gain any momentum after a quick and successful start by Algonquin. The Thunder applied a relentless attack against SLC, that did battle to stay in the game late in the second half but it was too little, too late for the Vikings as they fell 37-5.

"We got caught on our back foot and really paid for it during the entire first half," said Vikings head coach Brad Greenwood. "Full credit goes to Algonquin. They came storming out and put us under tremendous pressure the entire game. This will be a busy week in practice to get the team ready for our game against Loyalist."

The men's next game takes place at home on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. against the Loyalist Lancers. The women's team also plays on Saturday, but will travel to Belleville to take on the Lancers. Game time is 3:30 p.m.

Source: St. Lawrence College