St.FX captures second Monilex trophy
The St. Francis Xavier X-Women captured the second CIS women's rugby title in school history on Sunday afternoon with a thrilling 17-12 overtime win over the Concordia Stingers in the gold medal final of the championship hosted by Trent University.
It marked the first title match decided in extra time in the 13-year existence of the CIS tournament.
The X-Women, 13-time Atlantic conference champions in as many AUS seasons, had claimed their first Monilex trophy as national champs in 2006 in London, ON, thanks to a 10-5 gold medal victory over Guelph. StFX has returned to the CIS final for the past two years, only to fall to Lethbridge on both occasions, 20-3 in 2009 and 29-15 in 2008.
While the second-place finish is disappointing for Concordia, it is the best-ever result for the Quebec titlist Stingers in their fifth appearance at the event.
StFX head coach Mike Cavanagh credited a quick start by his players for giving his team the edge in the game.
"They kept control of the ball and kept up their intensity throughout. Hats off to Concordia for a great game. They never gave up."
"What a terrible way to lose. We had points to take and didn't, and paid the price," commented reigning CIS coach of the year Graeme McGravie of Concordia, obviously deeply disappointed.
The championship final fulfilled every bit of its promise to provide spectators with a thrilling climax to a fine week of rugby.
Amanda Thornborough of Brandon, MB, opened the scoring for StFX with a try converted by AUS rookie of the year Magali Harvey of Quebec City.
Concordia was finally able to put points on the board late in the first half when Sarah Scanlon of St. Bruno, QC, touched down from a driving maul off a 5 meter line-out. The try was not converted however and the Stingers went into the halftime break down 7-5.
Back from the intermission, Concordia quickly took its first and only lead of the afternoon on a play similar to Scanlon's score. Lisa Hoffman of Montreal touched down this time and Quebec MVP Jackie Tittley of Kirkland, QC, converted to make it 12-7 Stingers.
The X-Women kept pressing and the momentum seemed to shift their way as the half wore on.
Asya Bartley of Ottawa finally powered in to tie the match at 12 all after her teammates had applied intense pressure on the Concordia defense with disciplined multiple phase control of the ball and territory.
In the 10-minute overtime period, the X-Women continued their dominance and only repeated, desperate defensive play kept Concordia hopes alive.
Just as time was expiring in the first extra frame, Olivia DeMerchant of Woodstock, N.B., charged through for the championship-winning try.
Scoring Summary:
SFX: 7-5-5:17 (OT)
CON: 5-7-0:12
