Unanswered offence; undefeated season
The Western Mustangs had hopes of capturing their first win of the season as they hosted the Marauders on Sept. 16, but McMaster quickly ruined any plans the home team had. The Mustangs’ winless season would continue on the pitch at Alumni Field as Mac moved on to a season without any losses.
Western’s hopes were dashed largely thanks to eight-man Sara Svoboda, who contributed 16 points of her own to the Marauders’ 26 unanswered points. With two tries and three conversions, Svoboda led the way in another dominant win for the Marauders in their young season and was awarded the Pita Pit Athlete of the Week for her efforts.
This season, the women’s rugby team have already out-scored opponents 81-36, and they show no sign of slowing down. They are currently halfway through their four game regular season and are likely to once again go far in the Ontario University Athletics post-season this fall.
But no team can rest on their laurels too long, as next up for the Mac women is a road match against the Queen’s Gaels. Traveling to Kingston, the Marauders will play a Queen’s team that is also coming off of a two-game winning streak, out-scoring their opponents by a large margin of 88-24 in those victories.
The Gaels currently sit two points ahead of Mac at first place in the Shiels Division, so this game is imperative to win for playoff positioning. However, the Gaels have also played one extra game than the Marauders, a 38-31 loss to the Guelph Gryphons.
Winning this game would help the Marauders capture first place in their division with Guelph hot on their tails.
Led by rookie flanker Sophie de Goede, the Gaels will pose a threat to the Marauders’ perfect season at Nixon Field this Saturday. Boasting 32 points of her own, de Goede is ranked third in the province in individual points scored, and is only one point away from having the most points in the OUA.
Queen’s will look to stop the surging Marauders for a strong season finale and will have to rely on players like de Goede to do so. The Marauders will have to keep an extra eye out for their opponent’s star flanker who was also named OUA Female Athlete of the Week for Sept. 13.
The women’s rugby team have already out-scored opponents 81-36, and they show no sign of slowing down.
So far this season, the Marauders have done an excellent job of having a balanced attack on offence with different players contributing to the score sheet in every game. For the Marauders, the offence will likely rely again on the scoring of Sara Svoboda, who leads the team with 31 points out of the team’s 81 this season, and is sitting in fourth in OUA scoring.
Last year, the team fell short of OUA gold and finished sixth in a disappointing U Sports tournament thanks largely to a knee injury suffered by team captain Katie Svoboda. However, this year the team shows no signs of slowing down.
Working on integrating a set of fresh-faced athletes this season, the team has not let it effect their development on the pitch and are consistently outplaying every team they are playing, making few vital mistakes if any.
The Marauders are one of three teams that still remain undefeated, along with Brock and Guelph. If the Marauders and Gryphons both continue their spotless records this week, they will face off in a contentious season finale that will leave one team with their first loss of the season.
While the regular season just started at the beginning of this month, it will soon be over and time for the post-season. The Marauders promise to keep fans entertained with a long and successful campaign ahead of them.
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