Crushing the competition

By: Eamon Hillis

If there were any questions regarding the McMaster women’s rugby squad, and their potential to reproduce last season’s championship ascendancy, they were answered on Sept. 23.

In what was the most important match of their regular season so far, the Marauders were victorious over the Queen’s Gaels 32-0. The game was a long-anticipated rematch of last year’s Canadian Interuniversity Sport gold medal game, in which Mac triumphed 27-3.

Beneath the lights at Ron Joyce Stadium, both teams found themselves upon a stage well set and well-attended. All throughout the week prior, head coach Shaun Allen noted that his players held a special excitement for the game, and understood its significance.

“It should be the first real test that we face this year,” Allen said before the game. “[Queen’s] will be a team that expects to be competing for an OUA championship. We’ll get to see how we can play under some pressure, and how our systems hold up.”

Both teams were prepared to play hard, and right from kick-off it became clear that it would be an intense 80 minutes. With an especially large turnout for the game, and a pressure on both teams to perform, the atmosphere was spirited.

Although still within the regular season, it felt in many ways to be the first playoff game of the year.

“We definitely came in with the mentality that they were going to be a strong team,” senior fly-half Steph Black said. “We came out ready to fight and we were prepared for anything.”

Black, who kicked for two conversions and a penalty goal, has seen success in the sport of rugby over the past few years. Praised by coach Allen, Black has been a member of the Ontario senior women’s squad and has played an important role in Mac’s recent success.

“This is by far the best game we’ve played all season,” Black said. “We couldn’t be happier with it.”

In spite of the final score, which may suggest a blow-out, the first half was competitive.

Partially mired by penalties—acquiring two yellow cards in short sequence— Mac found themselves in the tight game they were expecting. Although they played well throughout the half, Queen’s pressed hard, and as a result, they kept the play mostly in the middle of the field.

Following the break however, the finely conditioned Marauders took over. With impressive ball movement and an abundance of speed in the back row, they logged 25 points in the second half and ran away with the victory.

Centre Selena Seguin picked up two tries, with Sara Svoboda, Katie Svoboda, and Saffara Whiteley-Hoffelner each adding one.

Although happy with her team’s performance, Black believes there are still adjustments that can be made.

“This game showed us a lot of things that we can work on,” Black said. “We will go back and look at the tapes to see where we can improve. But, overall it was a very positive day.”

McMaster continues its reign as the CIS no. 1 ranked team in the country, and will be considered one of the favourites come playoffs. Their next game is Oct. 1 in against the Trent Excalibur in Peterborough, Ont. Mac will be looking to maintain their unbeaten record, and to continue their stretch of unchallenged supremacy over the league.