The women’s rugby team was bested by a score of 19–15, by the Queen’s Gaels in front of a home crowd in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championship game on Oct. 27.
The No. 2 ranked Gryphons faced the No. 3 ranked Queen’s Gaels in a rematch of last year’s Championship game that saw Guelph win their fifth OUA title. On Saturday, the Gaels put a stop to Guelph’s five-year winning streak and took their first ever OUA title.
Before the game, Coach Colette McAuley said she expected Queen’s to come out fighting hard.
“They for sure will be out for revenge from last year’s loss at home. It always hurts a little more to lose in front of a home crowd.”
Unfortunately, Guelph is the hurting unit this time around.
“Defending the title is always difficult, as the underdog always has much less to lose, however, these Gryphon girls know how to win, dig deep and play hard,” said McAuley. The team gave it their all, but were unable make this a sixth consecutive OUA title.
The Gryphs pushed hard to start the game in cold weather under grey skies.
Gryphon Lindsey Yuen put 5 points on the board for Guelph after Shannon Spurrell took the ball into the try zone. Queen’s turn was next, with a try by Bronwyn Corrigan and a conversion by Lauren McEwan, making the score 7-5. Shortly after, Queen’s scored another five points and the Gryphs were down 12-5 going into the second half.
In the second half, Guelph’s Megan Lowry came out running, putting Guelph within scoring distance of the line. Devon Keyes added another five points for Guelph, but Queen’s fought back with Kayla Roote scoring another try and a conversion by McEwan, leaving Guelph trailing 19-10. Keyes then scored another try, giving the Gryphons a total of 15 points. In the end, Guelph lost by a score of 19-15.
Despite the heartbreaking loss on home soil, the Guelph women had another impressive rugby season. They went into the OUA playoffs with a 5-0 record and a league-high total of 298 points, with only 46 points against them. In the playoffs, Guelph shut out Laurier by a score of 78-0 in the quarterfinals, and defeated McMaster 20-0 in the semi-final.
Both the Gryphons and the Gaels will advance to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport finals held at Laval University in Quebec from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.