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Host Gaels to go for gold Sunday, take down Stingers 27-13
KINGSTON, Ont. (CIS) – The tournament host Queen's University Gaels advanced to the CIS women's rugby final for the first time in program history thanks to a 27-13 semifinal win over the Concordia Stingers, Saturday evening at Nixon Field.

The Gaels entered the national championship as the eighth seed after settling for fourth place in the OUA playoffs but are now one win away from their first Monilex Trophy triumph. Their best result to date at the CIS tourney was a bronze medal in 2013.

In an all-OUA final Sunday at 3 p.m., Queen's will face McMaster, whose lone loss this season came at Nixon Field, a 15-14 setback against the Gaels in their conference opener on Sept. 13. The Marauders are also looking for their first Monilex Trophy victory.

Since the inaugural CIS championship in 1998, three teams have triumphed on home turf, including Alberta in 2003, Lethbridge in 2008 and StFX in 2012.



Sunday's bronze medal game at 1 p.m. will also feature conference rivals as Concordia is set to battle RSEQ foe Ottawa.

"It was a huge stand," admitted Gaels head coach Beth Barz after the win at home. "The team finally found their identity. We have an awesome rematch with McMaster from the beginning of the season so realistically I know it's what they've been waiting for this season and back on our field it's something we're looking forward to."

Concordia head coach Graeme McGravie knew that an early injury to star player Frederique Rajotte would be tough to overcome. "We started pretty good, obviously Rajotte was a huge part in the first five minutes scoring a try and then she went down. We thought her ankle was broken but it was a severe sprain, but it definitely changed how we approached the game at that point."

The Gaels had possession from the opening kick-off but the Stingers managed to get their hands on the ball off an early scrum. Concordia pushed forward and got it out to all-Canadian Rajotte (Markham, Ont.) who ran 25 metres to score a try in the first minute of play.

Rajotte was carried off the pitch not much later after taking a hard hit and injuring her ankle which would prove to be a big loss to the Stinger's offence.

The Gaels pushed back in response to the early Concordia lead and received a penalty kick that Lauren McEwen (Wasaga Beach, Ont.) sent through to shrink the Queen's deficit to just two points. The physical play continued with Alexandra Ste Marie (Pointe Claire, Que.) scoring the Stingers a penalty goal of their own two minutes later.

Queen's turned the play back around, driving forward and visiting the Stingers end with one attack after another to put Concordia on the defensive. Wide on the right side, Lizzie Thomson (Plainfield, Ont.) was handed a pass to send her over the line with the first try of the match for the Gaels. With no convert to match, Queen's tied up the score at 8-8 to end the first half.

It was a race to break the tie and grab the lead as the second half opened up. The Stingers surged forward, but the Gaels stole possession and found McEwen on the sideline, who ran 40 metres to touch down a try that she would follow up with her own conversion, scoring the Gaels their first lead in the match.

The Gaels returned to the Stingers end and sent Emma Chown (Barrie, Ont.) over the line, but a crushing tackle by Emily Hickson (Ottawa) prevented Chown from putting the try down. A subsequent scrum at the five metre line gave Queen's one more go at a try which Miranda Seifert (Regina) capitalized on to put the Gaels ahead 22-8.

Before the game was through the Stingers made their way to the Queen's line once more with Erika Ikonomopoulos (Laval, Que.) scoring the second try of the game for the Stingers.

The Gaels shut down any chance of a Concordia comeback with a final try pushed through by rookie Pippi McKay (Toronto) to send the Gaels into the gold medal ma