Young squad falls to Queens

Alexandra Reilly

Assistant Sports Editor

A traditional powerhouse team in the OUA, McMaster women’s rugby suffered a disappointing loss against the Queen’s Gaels last Saturday in Kingston, Ont.

McMaster lost a hard-fought battle on Saturday with the score at 33-21.

Although the ladies did not make it home with a win, head coach Cam Mitchell was very pleased with the team’s performance against the CIS-ranked Gaels.

One of the team’s front runner Emily Ricketts commented on the team’s efforts on Saturday.

“Playing against the CIS No. 4 ranked team for our first game was hard with a new mix of players but we put up a great fight,” said Ricketts.

“We are such a young team and we relied on a number of rookies to start this past week,” added Ricketts.

Some notable rookies to start last Saturday for the Maroon and Grey were Saffara Whitelely-Hoffelner and Colleen Irowa.

McMaster ultimately struggled to organize itself offensively. Efforts from captain Cindy Nelles brought the team within seven points towards the end of the match, before the Gaels put forth one final push to seal the deal.

The Marauders recorded four tries in the game, which included their comeback attempt.

Nelles, Sarah Farquharson and Stephanie Black each scored a try in attempt to grab a win.

Black also had three successful convert kicks scoring a total of 11 points.

The women must now brush off the loss and look forward.

Their next contest is against the Trent Excalibur and will take place at McMaster field F this Sept. 15 at 12:00 p.m.