Women's rugby crushes York in first playoff contest

The McMaster women’s rugby team proved why they are a contender for an OUA title this season by dishing out back-to-back wins on their York Lion opponents.

The second victory came on the evening of Oct. 11, when the Marauders faced the Lions for the second time in a row. The score was 37-0.

With home field advantage, the Marauders managed to grasp an early lead with an penalty goal from Stephanie Black followed by a try from Heidi Henderson to bring the score to 10-0 Marauders. The Marauders would continue to pressure to the weaker York Lions as tries from Cindy Nelles and Jenn Lemon would bring the Marauders to a 20-0 lead.

Heading into the second half, the Marauders stepped it up even further as three of Mac’s players would all cross the touchline. Black played well for the Maroon and Grey, bringing in a total of 12 points to make her the top scorer of the night.

Currently ranked tenth within the CIS top-ten the Marauders will now advance to play the Guelph Gryphons in the OUA semifinals, which will take place on Oct. 19 on the Gryphons’ home turf.

The Guelph Gryphons are ranked second overall in the country and finished regular season play as an undefeated team. McMaster gave the Gryphons their hardest battle this season, keeping the score close for most of the match. Unfortunately the Gryphons were able to pounce on a few of the Marauders errors handing them a 44-27 deficit.

With much to be proud of the Marauders are able to maintain confidence heading into the crucial match up against Guelph this weekend on the road.